Cardiff Bay Yacht Club Fined £40,000 and £14,400 costs!

We don't know if there is any more to it than that report. Birdseye has implied there is but not explained.

I can't help but notice that, if this had been a similar story about an accident on the road, that the fine would have been far lower. That's not to criticise this fine; just a comment on an apparent difference between maritime law and road traffic law.
 
Rigger Mortice said:
We don't know if there is any more to it than that report. Birdseye has implied there is but not explained.

I can't help but notice that, if this had been a similar story about an accident on the road, that the fine would have been far lower. .......
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Plenty of people have gone to jail for causing such injuries in road accidents.

I can't imagine an 'inside story' that makes two boats full of kids crashing at speed in the dark reasonable.
 
Rigger Mortice said:
We don't know if there is any more to it than that report.
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There is a very comprehensive MAIB report on it. Basically they were using RIBs as transport to carry girls attending a dinghy sailing course to and from a hostel on the other side of Cardiff Bay. The boats were uncoded and unsuitable, the drivers were untrained and showing off, safety equipment was lacking or faulty and they were doing it at night without showing lights. The whole thing was outrageously irresponsible, and they deserve every penny of the penalty.

I trust the girls they injured will now extract colossal damages from them in a civil suit.

Edit: MAIB report available at http://www.maib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/2011/cbyc_ribs.cfm
 
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lw395 said:
Plenty of people have gone to jail for causing such injuries in road accidents.

I can't imagine an 'inside story' that makes two boats full of kids crashing at speed in the dark reasonable.
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True, but penalties for traffic offences do sometimes appear to be a bit of a lottery. Plenty of drivers have had quite light sentences for causing death.

I'm not sure if Capt. Birdseye was saying that the sentence was excessive. He may have meant it was light. I assume that there is a reason for his staying quiet. Nothing wrong with that, though he has teased my curiosity!
 
JumbleDuck said:
There is a very comprehensive MAIB report on it. Basically they were using RIBs as transport to carry girls attending a dinghy sailing course to and from a hostel on the other side of Cardiff Bay. The boats were uncoded and unsuitable, the drivers were untrained and showing off, safety equipment was lacking or faulty and they were doing it at night without showing lights. The whole thing was outrageously irresponsible, and they deserve every penny of the penalty.

I trust the girls they injured will now extract colossal damages from them in a civil suit.

Edit: MAIB report available at http://www.maib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/2011/cbyc_ribs.cfm
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Well said
 
It seems wrong, to me, that our Americanised compensation culture could jeperdise a perfectly good yacht club. They made a mistake, were judged and fined. In the old days that would be the end of the matter.
I hope it works out OK for my friends at CBYC.
Allan
 
Unfortunately boating / training qualifications are not necessarily a sign of common scense or the ability to be aware of danger, this sentence / fines are perhaps a way that slowly the realisation of this unfortunate situation should not continue.

Totally justified in my humble opinion.
 
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Allan said:
It seems wrong, to me, that our Americanised compensation culture could jeperdise a perfectly good yacht club. They made a mistake, were judged and fined. In the old days that would be the end of the matter.
I hope it works out OK for my friends at CBYC.
Allan
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Allan, i agree with you re the compensation culture in many cases, but when a girl is left brain damaged by stupidity, that is when compensation should be due.
If you were the girls parents would you consider the matter closed?
If the club was also stupid enough not to be insured then perhaps it shouldn't exist.
 
Allan said:
It seems wrong, to me, that our Americanised compensation culture could jeperdise a perfectly good yacht club. They made a mistake, were judged and fined. In the old days that would be the end of the matter.
I hope it works out OK for my friends at CBYC.
Allan
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No they're not a perfectly good yacht club they have demonstrated a total lack of responsibilty and care - in short a bunch of cowboys. Further more its not the end of matter for one brain damaged girl and it will never be. Close them down before they cause more damage to people and boating.
 
Allan said:
It seems wrong, to me, that our Americanised compensation culture could jeperdise a perfectly good yacht club. They made a mistake, were judged and fined. In the old days that would be the end of the matter.
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We've always had a compensation culture, as pointed out above someone will have to pay for this girls care for the rest of her life and that someone should not be the parents or tax payer, except in the last resort.

I assume what you mean is the no win no fee basis brought in in the 80s on which many spurious claims are made, and in that I agree with you.

I hope it works out OK for my friends at CBYC.
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This looks more like a business than a club of like minded people. Either way they had a duty of responsibility and maybe some sympathy for the ordinary members but they will have benefited from the business operation so that sympathy doesn't extend very far.
 
Allan said:
It seems wrong, to me, that our Americanised compensation culture could jeperdise a perfectly good yacht club. They made a mistake, were judged and fined. In the old days that would be the end of the matter.
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It's quite outrageous, isn't it, that an organisation should be expected to compensate a young woman left with serious brain damage by their incompetence?
 
Perhaps the severity of the injuries has beena little overstated because of the "serious brain injury" comment in the Beeb report? This is what the MAIB report says of the injuries
The girl who is believed to have made contact with the buoyancy tube of the other boat as she was ejected backwards into the water became quite unwell 2 days
after the accident, and was admitted to hospital for observation. She has been diagnosed as having sustained a “traumatic brain injury of moderate severity” and suffered concussion with post-concussion syndrome. She also experienced blurred vision and migraine episodes with accompanying fatigue and light sensitivity which remained unresolved at the time of publication of this report. This required specialist medical treatment which affected her education.
One of the girls had been thrown forward within one of the boats and made contact with the steering console. As well as sustaining small lacerations, she had a stiff back which became progressively worse. She was subsequently diagnosed as having suffered an acute side bending strain, resulting in muscle hypertonia at T2/3 and T8/9 segments of her thoracic spine. She still required osteopathic treatment for these injuries at the time of publication of this report.
Another girl, who had been sitting on the deck in the bow of one of the RIBs, suffered whiplash injuries to her neck, and also spinal injuries to the thoracic and lumber region. These required physiotherapy treatment for several months after the accident.
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This is not to trivialise the injuries, rather to suggest that some of the emotive language here is probably a bit OTT. There is certainly no suggestion that this is a case of lifelong care being needed. It probably isn't even a case for which "colossal damages" would be appropriate. Serious? Yes, but a bit of perspective is also needed.
 
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Rigger Mortice said:
Perhaps the severity of the injuries has beena little overstated because of the "serious brain injury" comment in the Beeb report? This is what the MAIB report says of the injuries


This is not to trivialise the injuries, rather to suggest that some of the emotive language here is probably a bit OTT. There is certainly no suggestion that this is a case of lifelong care being needed. It probably isn't even a case for which "colossal damages" would be appropriate. Serious? Yes, but a bit of perspective is also needed.
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You just don't get it do you! Collosal damages isn't the issue here, terrible seamanship and inept behaviour is!
 
Marsupial said:
You just don't get it do you! Collosal damages isn't the issue here, terrible seamanship and inept behaviour is!
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I have said absolutely nothing to trivialise the seamanship, or to suggest that it was not an issue. I have, however, pointed out that some of the comments here have probably been a little OTT. For you to accuse me of "just not getting it" is a little silly; after all I am suggesting that a cool, dispassionate, objective view is probably better than jumping to conclusions.

I did however point out that some sentences for motoring offences certainly appear to be more lenient and that, on the face of it, there is an apparent contradiction. That was not to suggest that the fine in this case was too high though I appreciate that you may choose to infer that but that would be your choice, not mine..
 
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