VOR report highlights collision avoidance
An independent report into racing in high vessel traffic density areas has been released by organisers of what was the Volvo Ocean Race. It was commissioned after the death of a fisherman in a collision involving Vestas 11th Hour Racing outside Hong Kong in January 2018.
The 50-page report details observations and recommendations made after interviewing over 40 people, including all the skippers and navigators in the last race.
It explains that the VO65S’ sailplan meant there was frequently an arc of 90° with no visibility from the helmsman’s position, ranging from a few degrees on the lee bow to abeam the lee side, particularly when racing with the A3 or masthead Code 0 and using outriggers.
Crews often resolved this by sending a grinder or trimmer down to leeward to look under the headsail, but they could sometimes have to wait for up to 30 seconds until the boat was on the crest of a wave to be able to see. Between the areas visible to the helmsman and leeward lookout, there was still some 2030° hidden under the foresails, and crews needed to dip the bow frequently to check that area.
There was criticism from at least two skippers in the race that less experienced crew were relying too much on AIS.
All the VO65S were equipped with identical FMCW radar systems, which were reported to be ‘disappointing’ at detecting small targets at long range. In an experiment set up, the radar did not gain a solid detection until
0.5 miles from the target.
The report suggested FMCW radar be replaced by a pulse or pulse compression radar system, that organisers should look into fitting forward-looking infrared cameras, and illuminating the mainsail to make yachts more visible to other traffic.