NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/rec/boats/7911

Text File | 1992-11-17 | 1.6 KB | 35 lines

Newsgroups: rec.boats
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From: [e-mail] (Dave Watson)
Subject: Solo Sailor Missing
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (NetWork News Manager)
Organization: Martin Marietta Aero & Naval Systems
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 03:21:11 GMT
Lines: 24

A brief report in the Washington Post this past Sunday noted that Mike Plant
and his boat Coyote were missing in the North Atlantic.  He was in transit from
New York to Les Sables d'Olonne France in preparation for the start of the
Vendee Globe Challenge race.  Does anyone have any more information on this?

I was aboard this boat a few weeks ago at the Annapolis show and have never
seen anything like it:  60 ft. LOA, about 4 ft. of freeboard, about 18 ft. of
beam (carried all the way aft), and a plumb bow.  The designer is Rodger Martin
who commented in the Nov. Sailing World that boats of this ilk (second
generation BOC designs) are "harder on the skipper... but we determined that
Mike would just have to work himself up to it.  It represents a more aggressive
philosophy than we've taken in the past".  Can anyone comment on what he means
by this?

By the way, there are a number of interesting twists to this story.  The boat
has been missing for two weeks.  The Canadian Coast Guard evidently received an
EPIRB signal that was too weak for localization (?), and then did not notify
USCG because the beacon was not registered (i.e. they did not know an American
was involved).

Keep your fingers crossed.

David