How Did Guyot Crash Into 11th Hour Racing in The Hague?!?!?

When Guyot Environment crashed into 11th Hour Racing near The Hague in the final leg of The Ocean Race 2023, many people were left wondering – how can two IMOCA sailboats crewed by some of the best sailors in the world possibly collide in moderate conditions with good visibility? That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about in this video.

Most of the around the world Ocean Race, as the name implies, takes place in the open ocean, far from land and other boats. These boats sail at insane speeds in very rough conditions, and the decks are often completely awash in very cold sea water. Because of this, one of the most significant risks to these sailors is being swept overboard, because the likelihood of being able to retrieve somebody alive is slim to none, especially at night in rough conditions.

As a result, many of these boats have fully enclosed cockpits, where the crew can operate the boat from inside, which for most of the race is much safer and more comfortable than being on deck.
However, because much of the race is in the open ocean, race organizers have been adding more inshore elements to the Ocean Race to increase visibility and spectator interest to keep the sponsors happy.

In the Hague the boats had to complete two laps of a square inshore course before heading off to sea and the final stop of Genoa Italy.

And it’s on these inshore legs that the enclosed cockpit design of these boats is really quite sub-optimal.

It’s ironic that a boat design feature that has made the boats much safer for parts of the race has arguably made them more dangerous for others, but as they say, everything in sailing is a compromise.

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[MikeK]

You totally avoid the larger question - Why didn't Goyot take either of the evasive maneuvers (tack or duck) they were required to take under the rules to avoid a boat with rights under a starboard tack? More basically, why wasn't one of the Goyot crew members tasked with knowing where all the surrounding boats were at all times? It seems a fundamental violation of the seamanship. You can attribute blame all you want to the design of the boats. But knowing where you are in relation to other boats on an in-port race is the minimum bar of performance I'd expect from any sailor, nevermind the best sailors the world has to offer.

[TheJttv]

This is like kayaking with my dad. There is a whole damn ocean yet he still manages to crash into me.

[ravi]

Keeping a proper lookout is one of the fundamental rules of the IRPCS. This situational awareness is even more important for yachts racing in close proximity of one another, especially for IMOCAs with enclosed cockpits which restrict visibility. Guyot was completely at fault for not having a lookout on the leeward, especially when they knew that 11th Hour was ahead of them and on that side.

[JS-yjow]

Holy hell, when I first saw this, I didn’t realize how close the 11th hour skipper came to getting struck directly by the bowsprit.

[edzardpiltz]

Thanks for your take. You have some good points there. But the more important questions is, why guyot didn't see 11 hour? Although I think it's more or less for the same reasons, there are some points I'd like to stress. With Ben on the rudder, he can not see through the large low jib towards leeward, because these jibs are made for offshore racing and do not have widows as their counterparts that are used for crowded inshore races. Ben is therefore unaware that the Americans have tacked, because of his Blindspot. He can also not just leave the helm to check his leeward traffick and non of the other team members are available for lockout because there Imocas are sailing with a very small team and all hands are needed under deck to manage the sails during the frequent manoeuvres of the inport race. This is a very unfortunate but due to the design of the Imocas and their main purpose of long distance open ocean racing probably unavoidable accident. The race organizers seriously need to rethink how to keep them race attractive for the spectators without putting some of the worlds best sailers into such dangerous and emotional stressful situations.

[kevinoshea]

Finally get to see video of Charlie in the cockpit

[barryscott]

The Ludicrous situation of off-shore racing boats, engaged in in-port match-racing is strike number one.
Not having their On-Board-Reporter posted up on the bow to call dangerous situations is strike two. 
(particularly when at least one of the other boats did do that).
Having the event decided by In-Port-Races is strike number three.
(that just sets everyone up for dangerous decision making)
Not having race officials (or collision alert systems) in a position to warn of imminent danger, is strike four.
And not having safety exclusion zones around each boat (something like SailGP) is strike five.
Having marketing decisions (inshore/stadium racing) dictate the racing, to the demonstrable endangerment of the boats and crews, is strike 6.
This was all a clusterf**k waiting to happen, we are very lucky someone wasn't hurt or killed.

[SailingAquamarine]

This kind of accident happens in open cockpit racing as well. They needed a bow man.

[dejansub]

Can you make same analysis from the cockpit of Guyt

[terrygalvin]

All very good points, of course. Doesn’t it seem, however, that 11th Hour, in 20-20 retrospect, should have known that they were tacking into a potentially dangerous situation and been ready to duck behind, or waited until the other boat tacked and then tacked to cover? 11th hour, speaking of situational awareness, seemed to be unaware of the other boat when it decided to tack. The race is not decided in these in-port portions, right? So staying safe and not depending on the competence of other crews is paramount.

[garretttheterrible]

I made the same point about "all eyes inside an enclosed cockpit" a few nights ago on a LinkedIn post, but I missed the added dimension of Charlie not being able to see their intent and recognize they had no plans to give-way. Charlie does have 1 crewmember at the bow, but the video shows nobody on the bow of Guyot. I'm a pilot and aeronautical engineer and used this as a "systems safety" example of a design that contributed to human error. I do aircraft structures for a living, including composite repairs, and am impressed with how quickly 11th Hour's team patched them up.

Given Guyot's performance throughout the race, and their apparent inability to count to 8, this collision is par for the course. However, that doesn't mean the design can't be improved to mitigate the risk of an inattentive crew.

The VO65s and the previous generation Whitbread boats have larger crews, all outside where they can see the world. As you say, the IMOCA design is great for protecting the crew on long offshore legs but seems to be lacking during close inshore racing.

Perhaps the IMOCAs could incorporate a retractable cockpit roof like the VO65s, and maybe add a couple crew, if only for the inshore portion. They hop off approaching the exit gate like the support teams do at the start of Vendee globe (the way Alex Thompson's crew stepped off is a good example of how to do it with style).

[peterrobey]

Thanks for putting this up. Seems like the inshore race was unsafe for these boats. Organizers at fault for not requiring on deck look outs.

[captainsirjackchucklebutty]

Reminds me of Antigua Week 1998 . I was Bow on a 65fter . I had agreed with the American Dr owner that there would be no shouting. First leg and he seemed to be holding a Board Meeting with his other Drs while helming. We were on Port and I ended up yelling 'George' pointed at my eyes then at the Stbt tacker about to sink us. Both tacked away with millimetre clearance,
Race 2 I just yelled 'INCOMING...STARBOARD TACKER.' Then 'Hold your course. You will go clear'. Which we did .
But dont expect professional sailors to muck it up like THIS tho !

[waynegibbs]

Those boats are beautiful to watch, first time I’ve seen them

[nathanbenton]

maybe all teams should share a designated comms channel for stuff like this

[ibmwcool]

Thanks for your vid. I think there are "some" racing rules against communication between boats, electronically or otherwise. Maybe in situations like this, that could be reviewed?

[dirkjansen]

11 th hour could not any risks and had to do anything to avoid a collision
So they had to bear away at the moment he saw the other boat coming at the port side
Another rule is ofcourse; avoid colusions at any time

[Kirmo]

I've missed that news! I'm super passionate about sailing, but I feel like I'm out of the loop.

[bookingstation]

Whilst Guyot was at fault, 11 hour could of taken avoiding action. Guyot was either going to stay on course, tack or bear away. Had 11th hour gone about as soon as the helm identified the risk the collision could of been avoided.

[waderogers]

This whole 'in port' series stems from the previous Volvo Ocean race series and is designed to increase public awareness of the race, which is a good idea, but has to be done safely.
The speeds with which these boats approach each other compounds the problem, especially since they can't see the crew of the other boat. A skipper or tactician must make early decisions and then adjust accordingly. It doesn't look like Guyot did any of that.
In port racing is difficult, even in open cockpit boats. I've seen so many races where one skipper didn't fully understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing and got himself, his boat, and other boats in trouble.