Superyacht Crash

jfm said:
Yup it was that space or none in Porto rotondo in summer. So he had to get in if that’s what owners demanded. But there was no significant wind and it was an easy space other than the ground line. He should have asked the other boat crew to drop it (asking directly or thru harbour guy). That would be normal in the med.
Already parked boats giving assistance to incoming boats is normal. I have often had neighbours kindly start an engine and bow thrust to widen the space as I approach, and I have done same for them, in these marinas.
Also our drama queen untidy-bridge captain needs to get a trailing-lead portable throttle set so he can reverse the last few metres from a position where he can see. Then this wouldn’t have happened. He owes it to his neighbours: it is shameful for a pro captain to hit another boat in easy conditions when it could have been avoided so easily. Accidents do happen obviously but they will continue to happen with this guy unless he sorts his sh1t out.
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don't sit on the fence jfm… say it how it is:D
 
petem said:
Mike, all you need to do is look at his pilothouse / bridge, looks like a teenagers bedroom.
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Yes but thats his domain. Surely what matters on a charter yacht are the parts of the yacht used by guests and the oily bits which, so far as I can see from previous videos, are pretty slick. Not forgetting that this is not a young boat either
 
I really enjoy the channel and think it is super cool that he makes a video of what must definitely be a very embarrassing moment for him. Of course he should have asked the neighbor to drop the bow lines - he explicitly mentions that he is not trying to push responsibility and that he should have ordered them to do so.

However, given that he has been a full time charter captain for 17+ years I imagine that this was a docking move he is not entirely unfamiliar with. It seems like the accident was due to a number of unfortunate circumstances (wind direction, the bow line, fenders getting caught, nobody noticing the fenders getting caught, etc.) - which I guess is always the case in these type of accidents. However, I don't have any experience with this so I'm just guessing.

Deleted User said:
So I take it you're not going to employ this guy as skipper for your future superyacht?;)

As for the owner, I'm guessing he's quite supportive of this YouTube channel 'coz its free advertising for his charter business. Btw how is the boat 'messy'? Just so I know for the next time you come on board mine;)
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@Deleted User: the owner is definitely supportive of the channel and even appeared in one of the previous videos. I imagine there will be many more of these type of channels in the future.
 
Should be called "superyacht minor scrape".

I wouldn't be happy mooring in a berth where you are expected to "bump the other yachts apart" simply to get in.

Although a little sideways, it looked under control ... I'm not sure why crew were not monitoring fenders and able to intervene, either with an "abort abort" call, or by deploying a roving fender to substitute for the ones that got hooked up on the ground line. Either way, that wasn't a good day, but nobody got hurt, and comparatively minor damage.
 
FlowerPower said:
Although a little sideways, it looked under control ... I'm not sure why crew were not monitoring fenders and able to intervene, either with an "abort abort" call, or by deploying a roving fender to substitute for the ones that got hooked up on the ground line. Either way, that wasn't a good day, but nobody got hurt, and comparatively minor damage.
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Not that it would have made any difference in this particular instance but the yacht doesn't appear to have a sternthruster which I find strange in a yacht costing millions. Maybe pro skippers dont need thrusters like we mere mortals:D
 
petem said:
It seems strange to me that the ground line of the adjacent yacht was so far across. Could it be that they were using the wrong line?
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I think if you can get to the end of the video you will hear the skipper pointing out that the port ground line of the yacht on the starboard side was attached to the same bit of chain as his starboard line so it was inevitable that it would be an obstruction
 
FlowerPower said:
I wouldn't be happy mooring in a berth where you are expected to "bump the other yachts apart" simply to get in.
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From my limited knowledge of Med boating, there's a different attitude. Under normal circumstances there is a single fender width between myself and my neighbours. If we go out for the day then the neighbouring boats tend to drift across into my berth meaning that I probably only have 3m to squeeze a 3.45m boat in. That might sound totally unacceptable but it's actually no big a deal as once you've got the stern in (managing to avoid other ground lines) you're pretty much home and dry (as long as you're both well fendered and you take your time). Furthermore, the marina like you to give them a call when you're approaching and they will come to your berth and stand on the bows of your neighbouring boats to fend you off. And if things go really pear shaped they send the dinghys out to give your bows, or whatever, a push.
 
My opinion is that a lot of your neighbors will be considerate and tie their lines tightly so they don’t drift too much into your space.
Unfortunately a few have an attitude that lines should have as much free play as possible. And these, on a windy day can be a pain
 
FlowerPower said:
Should be called "superyacht minor scrape".

I wouldn't be happy mooring in a berth where you are expected to "bump the other yachts apart" simply to get in.
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Dont come to mallorca then, thats par for the course, or at least it's always been that way with every boat/berth I've used here.
 
FlowerPower said:
I wouldn't be happy mooring in a berth where you are expected to "bump the other yachts apart" simply to get in.
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Its very common. When I first got my berth in Antibes, it was so tight that getting in and out required the crew to lift each individual fender on both sides over the fenders on the adjacent boats because there simply wasnt enough space for the fenders to slide past each other. The upside of that is that coming back into the berth, once you get a bit of the stern of the boat in, youre not going anywhere so the rest of the mooring manoeuvre is pretty relaxed. The marina has cracked down on max boat widths now and in any case one of my neighbours has moved on so my berth isnt so tight anymore but we still have to watch the fenders in case they get caught up with those on the adjacent boats
 
Deleted User said:
Its very common. When I first got my berth in Antibes, it was so tight that getting in and out required the crew to lift each individual fender on both sides over the fenders on the adjacent boats because there simply wasnt enough space for the fenders to slide past each other. The upside of that is that coming back into the berth, once you get a bit of the stern of the boat in, youre not going anywhere so the rest of the mooring manoeuvre is pretty relaxed. The marina has cracked down on max boat widths now and in any case one of my neighbours has moved on so my berth isnt so tight anymore but we still have to watch the fenders in case they get caught up with those on the adjacent boats
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so fender snagging common place... mmm, so the crew not looking back at the fenders until three had got snagged on the other boats ground line a bit neglectful?
 
$5M boat yet no CCTV system? Trying to get something that big into such a tight space with obstructions without eyes on.... its not really any shock to me that something went wrong.
 
jfm said:
it was an easy space other than the ground line.
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Not sure to agree with that, J.
Your comment made me curious to have another look at the video, and I still think the marina should be ashamed of having given that berth to a boat of that size - not that they will be, of course!
Just look at the frame below: no way the Benetti would be so pressed against the SL by mooring lines alone.
The first was obviously forced in that position also by the next boats on her stbd side, towards the marina entrance.
Not to mention the MCY on port side of the SL, which only had another boat (a funny one btw, can anyone spot what she is?) between her and the concrete dock on the marina building.
FgDFRJHW_o.jpg

My guess is that some marinero checked the width available at the dock end and confirmed that the SL would fit, but that's not good enough, in my books.
One thing is squeezing in between two 50 footers by bumping them away with fenders, and another is moving 300T worth of boat inside some other big vessels already tightly squeezed in their slot, which can only move sideways a few inches, if that.
Of course you can try, but getting in and out completely unscathed is more a matter of sheer luck rather than competence, imho.
 
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