Posted on 07/18/2013 7:31:55 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Hany Mustapha, 46, from Worcester Park, Surrey, had just picked up a 21ft sloop bought through eBay and set sail in strong winds from Poole, Dorset, running into trouble minutes later.
The yacht was discovered 'ghosting' hours later, running aground deserted on the Isle of Wight with its engine still running.
...
Mr Mustapha was a member of a local motor yachting club on the River Thames and had completed a one-week sailing course with his second wife, Liz, in Turkey in 2011.
He was also studying for his Master Yachtsman certificate in his spare time.
However, the coroner said he had 'over-estimated his ability' when he attempted to sail single-handed...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Old firesign theater interview skit:
Bob: So, how is your lovely son, Buddy.
Interviewee: Oh, he’s in medical school for a few weeks in Mexico, Bob.
"I am a successful rich businessman-doctor-lawyer-corporate head-architect, Kennedy, etal. I am a genius. Because I am very successful in one particular endeavor/occupation, I can do anything I want with little training. I can sail a boat in heavy seas or fly my own plane with little training. Nobody can tell me what to do."
It takes a brave man to sail around the world in a 21 ft. sloop. Not me says I, no way.
His mistake was not staying at a Holiday Inn the night before.
According to the article, he had even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before. Can his widow sue them for false advertising?
Sherman, then theirs hope for my14 ft sloop. /s
I don’t know much about sailing, but isn’t hat what a boom vang is for?
Sherman, then theirs hope for my14 ft sloop. /s
Yikes. RIP.
That'd do it. "'Ware the boom!" is the first thing you learn. And it's a pretty good idea to wear a life jacket with a beacon when you're soloing 15-foot-seas in a 21-footer. Actually it's a much better idea not to go, at least if you're a novice.
Doc: You have Hany, the world renowned yachtsman. Hany, who single-handed sailed around the world. Hany who, with his bare hands, held together his battered boat, and somehow makes it around the world with but one week of training! Reflex. It's like the knee jerk. Strike the patella tendon in any human being, you produce the knee jerk. Look.
[Doc hits Hany in the knee and nothing happens.
Hany: What's the matter, Doc?
Doc: Nothing, but stay out of 21 ft. sailboats Hany my boy.
Memo to self:
Don’t sail 15-foot waves in a 21-foot boat you bought on ebay for $1,400.
One of the Kennedy crime clan failed the bar exam over and over again. Probably the first un-riggable test he had ever faced in his life.
Serge Testa went around the ball in 1987 in the 12' Acrohc Australis (Yep He's Australian)
Alessandro Di Benedetto in the 21' Miniclasse 6.5 is actually the smallest non-stop circumnavigation
The Miniclasse 6.5 is designed as an affordable (ie c. $50000+) for the Solo Mini Transat (Transatlantic) race, ans is an ocean crossing boat.
This gentleman's boat is a day sailer designed for coastal voyages in the daytime.
Cooter, Cooter, watch the typing, please. It has to be a Holiday Inn EXPRESS! Good God, man, I hope you made that clear to the unlucky Worthy Oriental Gentleman before he set sail!
Sloop? Yacht? A 21 footer? That’s a daysailer, fit for inland bodies of water and not very large ones at that. This author has no understanding of the subject matter.
Slocum’s book was a great read.
*Build it yourself...and they will go.*
Precisely the point. By now hundreds of people of all ages have circumnavigated in production fiberglass boats that were intended for not much more than local overnights. among those successfully making the trip are a number who were total sailing dunderheads, at least when they started!
OTOH, another bunch set out and are "missing." Among the missing: some superbly equipped and very experienced yachtsmen. Go figure. The sea is cruel OK, and also not "fair."
Mustapha was definitely in the dunderhead division. However, had he been just a teensy bit smarter and waited for a better day to leave on his adventure, he just might have learned enough to survive. After all, the "book" is quite explicit about lifelines, falling overboard, boom-whacks, etc.
Look at the bright side, perhaps this challenge was Hany Mustapha's personal jihad and Allah-The All-Merciful and Wise will allot him the 72 Virgins ... or how many ever you get for a botched try.
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