The video all owners should watch, but few want to see. Some can't handle the TRUTH!

22 thoughts on “The video all owners should watch, but few want to see. Some can't handle the TRUTH!”

• You are a amazing, thanks for sharing🏅🏋🏻‍♀️

• The sublect may be interesting. But damn ! It’s so un-understanding and boring way to show it !
  It losts time and mind

• I was just thinking about the other Amel Owners, actually they should be grateful you have raised this issue. It gives them a chance to follow your advice which could potentially save someone life and yacht. Car manufacturers have to undertake recalls, what’s the difference, it is what it is a potentially a design issue, that rather than rectify it it they tried to push it under the radar, poor commercial management and judgement.
  Maybe this is why, in a recent video they were trying to justify the change of design in the rigging.
  Keep pushing….

• Iv had the misfortune of losing 2 masts , Second one looked like a piece of spaghetti but didn't break , Both times wing & wing but in 25 to 30+ knots . Took me 4 years to get recompense from the rigger as the swage was fitted faulty , 2 months old ? The second one we stopped & took the mast ashore & bent it strait between to tree stumps , Got us home , 50 miles , Just . You both did an amazing job = Now enjoy Well done .

• As a crew member on offshore racing yachts but not with much experience cruising, I have experienced 2 mast failures (over 30 years of offshore racing) and witnessed another one as it happened. I will say that all of these were in heavy seas and one in heavy wind (40 knots +) so a lot of what you mentioned makes very clear logical sense and you have presented your argument well. I would like to say firstly and most importantly I am very glad you both made it to port and were not badly injured, when a mast comes down it can be a moment of many hazards if you find yourself in the wrong spot. I will also admit that from a racing point of view we push the rigging much harder and hold it in higher pressure situations which obviously make my experience different to yours.

  That said, I would like to kindly comment on a couple of points that I think should be said. I'm not siding with your nay sayers, and this is not intended as anything other than some feedback. You mentioned in your dialogue that you have never had an uncontrolled Gybe on Aquarius. I'm sorry but I think that this is incorrect, regardless of how violent it is or how well you controlled it, having the yacht turn when presented with seas or a wind shift that backs the Genoa is at least by the definitions I was taught, an uncontrolled Gybe. Unfortunately, with a poled Genoa, especially in larger swells or very changeable winds, does happen to any sailor and is one of the reasons any crew on our boat is told never to stop watching the sails and to be ready to react and check the rig if it does happen. Even in flat seas and with little wind the amount of effort that can be put onto the mast and the fittings even in what seems a quiet or gentle sail backing can do significant and unexpected damage. I acknowledge that on a racing yacht you always have someone on watch and that is different on a cruiser especially on long crossings but personally for the few crossings ive done not racing, our crew has opted to not pole the genoa when we are likely to not be able to be on deck and watching all the time, for example at night.

  All that said the biggest feedback I have for you is this, when the mast fails, especially if you are some distance from help, the first instinct for many is to try and salvage what you can, either to reduce the repair costs, to identify the problem, or for proof of good maintenance to show the insurance company. While I'm sure some of your responses saying "cut it free" would have been to hide potential issues like you mention, the biggest reason to consider to cut the rig free is safety. if the rig has fallen neatly on the deck and has no part in the ocean then you can probably tie it down and breath but let's face it most of the time part or sometimes all of it ends up overboard floating or partly flooding next to the hull. It only takes one wave collecting the broken rig from an unlucky direction and you can have injuries from those who are trying to recover it, or worse still a hole or open crack punched in the side of the hull that cause much bigger issues. Since there is bound to be some people watching your video who will have to at some point deal with such a situation, I think that its important to acknowledge the safest option especially when the rig is mostly or entirely overboard is to cut it free. we keep a pair of bolt cutters in the companion way in easy reach just in case at all times.

  One of the dismasting's we suffered was offshore in flat conditions where we were caught off balance by a swell from a passing tanker as we were tacking. The boat had a flawed (in our opinion) design with a jointed mast at deck level held together with 4 bolts between the lower mast step beneath the deck through the deck into the actual mast which sheared when the boat bounced on the wake while the rigging was undergoing weight changes due to the tack manoeuvre. We ended up with the entire mast in one piece laying on the flat water next to the boat with the mast step against the hull. the entire mast had been removed and checked less than 3 months before at the start of the racing season as we did every year, and everything had been tested and checked and was in near new condition with most of it being less than 2 seasons old. It saddened us greatly to see the mast, still set sails and all the equipment attached slip away beneath the waters when the last line was cut, both for the remarkably good condition it looked in as well as the knowledge that this was the end of our season as a complete rebuild would take a significant amount of time, but when we made it back to safety and hauled out the hull, we were shocked to find 4 small indents where the broken bolts had already begin to damage the hull, if we had been in rough seas I have no doubt the hull would have been at risk even with how quickly we were able to cut it free. If we had tried to recover it, the hull would have been lost as well and Im very glad we didnt have to wait in the liferaft.

• Well done, Ken…though Amel, prior to the 50 & 60 models which are not designed to be global cruisers, are my favourite boat. If you look at the timeline for competitive production boat brands, it's not surprising that the amendment to the Amel operating manual was buried.

• Ken, fascinating watch and again I’m so sorry you two went through this. Question if the Amel mast is so poorly designed, why did you not go with Seldon or some other mast maker for the replacement, instead of being so insistent on getting an Amel replacement? I’m also assuming at this point your insurance is settled. We’d love to hear more on that also if you can. Aloha, Mark.

• So well said. 👍

• ❤❤❤❤❤

• great information. as a structural engineer myself, it's pretty obvious that it's a design flaw in the mast where the poles are connected. seems like they could easily reinforce that area of the mast to solve the issue?

• Id say great seamamship sorting it out so well in open sea.
  Most important is no crew injuries ect. Every thing else is ”just” work and money to get it repaired.
  Amels are built very well. But no shop is indestructable. Otherwishe it would be so heavy, it wouldnt float.
  Masts are under very complex dynamic loads. Poles, spinnaker poles ect. Can under wrong circumstanses (as in your case) cause very high lokal sideforce to the mast. (Quite high up on the spar too)Who always is under high compression force. If a dent occures in the spar profile. The compression of standing riggning, natural mastmovement in heavy seas. Will make the mast to break.
  If the pole (or a boom for that matter) is hit by a wave. The risk for a mastbreakage is extremly high.
  One can ofcoarse design a mast stronger for that type of events. But as the extra wheight comes so high up from the center of gravity. One needs to Adde alot of wheight to the keel. With need of reaimforcments to the hull. And so on.
  With the amount of sailed miles of Amels. And so few big problems. I wouldnt be worried to take it out in really bad weather.

  To be clear. I have no connectios to Amel, or any claimes to be an Amel expert. Not my type of sailing vessel.
  And sorry for my not so good english.

• Congrats on conquering the dismasting. I don't care what anyone says. There is no excuse for a mast or boom that fails in rather benign wind and seas, "violent" jibe or no. Rigging should be engineered to withstand such forces. And if the cause is corrosion, that is also the builder's fault. I recall another recent Amel dismasting in rather benign conditions. The cause was the exotic engineering of the chainplates. Face it. The problem lays with Amel. Amel has become another luxury builder that turns out boats with basic bad engineering. Don't pole out on one side? That is such a common sail plan. Amel may as well state, "We don't recommend actually sailing your gorgeous expensive boat."

• Great video, don’t give up, push and keep pushing, they should have done the right thing…..
  It’s amazing how they put money and profits over safety.
  Scary.

• Number 2 thing

• Accumulated metal fatigue concentrated in a small area of the mast, compounded by a user manual that does not explain how/why to manage and distribute the pressure of the poles. You've done a great service to the community and hopefully this will save lives and limbs. Ken , you have great tenacity and determination to follow through with this. Fair winds!

• Hey you guys, thank you very much for your video trying to explain and prove what really happend.
  MUCH ApPRECIATED !!!
  Also, there are at least some people that should apologize for earlier comments without having any detail on the facts.
  SHAME ON YOU GUYS!!!
  And for the future: enjoy the ‘new’ rig and I wish you many safe and beautiful miles o/b the Amel!
  Cheers!!! 🍺
  Harry

• Its channels like these that got me interested in an Amel and I have been following several of those channels for the last year trying to learn as much as possible about these particular boats . However, its also reports like these that cause me to reconsider and look elsewhere. Lots of other boat manufacturers out there. Sure, none are perfect. However; No need to take a risk with proven design flaws and, whats even worse, poor manufacturer support. Wish you all the best dealing with the French. I will stick with Dutch boats. I am not saying they are perfect but the Dutch are considerably less arrogant and much more customer oriented and professional to deal with. And its customer support that can make or break ownership experience. Good luck with your boat!

• Screw all internet commenters…

• U did everything right..

• You worked hard on this detailed video. Very well done. As a result of your Echo Pilot video, I did pick one up. Did not realize that mast was deck stepped. Also that major opening in the mast, reducing structural material in that section by at least 40% right at the impact point of the pole seems a vulnerability. Unlikely that the pole would be able to fracture mast in a section that was complete. Reminds me of splitting wood. With a solid piece of incompletely seasoned oak, as a full circle, it is much more resistance to the maul. But once that circle is broken, the following splits are noticeably easier. Thank you for posting.

• Sharks live not only in the sea. Best wishes to Aquarius.

• Great video, the editing, the music and especially the end, you cant handle the truth, legendary🤙

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