Two dead, four injured in Padstow speedboat crash.

Sunday, 5 May 2013
STATEMENT: PADSTOW SPEEDBOAT INCIDENT
Falmouth Coastguard was first contacted at 15.48 this afternoon reporting that six people had been thrown from a speedboat approximately 1/2 mile off Padstow in the Camel Estuary. It was reported by members of the public that the boat was out of control and had struck a number of those in the water.

The RNLI lifeboats from Rock and Padstow along with the search and rescue helicopters from RNAS Culdrose and RMB Chivenor were sent to the scene. St. Merryn, Newquay and Polzeath Coastguard Rescue Teams have also been involved.

We do not believe at this time any other vessels, kayaks or people were involved in this incident, other than those that had fallen from the speedboat.
 
I agree, lots of missing info, but assuming that everyone ended up in the water and the boat kept going, it's either killcord failure, or failure to wear it. Boat looks too new not to have one fitted.

Whatever the causes, very sad.
 
Iain C said:
I agree, lots of missing info, but assuming that everyone ended up in the water and the boat kept going, it's either killcord failure, or failure to wear it. Boat looks too new not to have one fitted.

Whatever the causes, very sad.
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Without doubt the kill cord wasn't used or failed as the boat continued to circle under a lot of power. How they came to get thrown out of the boat in the first place isn't clear - hitting a wash or an object in the water possibly. And how they got their injuries is unclear but a circling prop could certainly do that.

Big new powerful boat, down from London, basic safety ignored or misused. Easy enough to guess where the enquiry will be going. Horrendous outcome for the family which ever way it goes.
 
snowleopard said:
Without doubt the kill cord wasn't used or failed as the boat continued to circle under a lot of power. How they came to get thrown out of the boat in the first place isn't clear - hitting a wash or an object in the water possibly. And how they got their injuries is unclear but a circling prop could certainly do that.

Big new powerful boat, down from London, basic safety ignored or misused. Easy enough to guess where the enquiry will be going. Horrendous outcome for the family which ever way it goes.
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A second home in Padstow area

[The boat is owned by the family, who are from Wandsworth in south London, and have a holiday home in the area.Mr Milligan had been managing director of Sky's advertising sales division, Sky Media, since 2004.]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-22423877

 
Awful, the police are saying at least some of the surviving four of the family have ' life threatening, life changing leg injuries '; I think we know what that means.

Years ago my friends Mark and Dennis Warren were trundling back through Langstone Harbour ( always a bleak quiet place ) one Sunday evening when returning to the mooring, when by pure luck in the dusk they saw a speedboat on a mud flat and a chap waving.

His mate was lying on the mud in a bad way, it turned out they had been pitched out of the boat which then circled and badly injured one of them before running up on the mud too far for the remaining fit person to push off again.

The injured chap was bleeding to death, night was approaching and they had no VHF or flares, Dennis and Mark undoubtedly saved his life.

I feel desperately sorry for this family off Padstow, a simple omission of a kill chord - apparently - has had such awful results.
 
Seajet said:
Awful, the police are saying at least some of the surviving four of the family have ' life threatening, life changing leg injuries '; I think we know what that means.

Years ago my friends Mark and Dennis Warren were trundling back through Langstone Harbour ( always a bleak quiet place ) one Sunday evening when returning to the mooring, when by pure luck in the dusk they saw a speedboat on a mud flat and a chap waving.

His mate was lying on the mud in a bad way, it turned out they had been pitched out of the boat which then circled and badly injured one of them before running up on the mud too far for the remaining fit person to push off again.

The injured chap was bleeding to death, night was approaching and they had no VHF or flares, Dennis and Mark undoubtedly saved his life.

I feel desperately sorry for this family off Padstow, a simple omission of a kill chord - apparently - has had such awful results.
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From BBC news
[Police said they were examining if the vessel had a so-called kill cord - a line attached to the pilot designed to cut the engine if they were thrown away from the helm.Officers said the presence and state of a kill cord would be a "key focus of our investigation".]
 
sailorman said:
From BBC news
[Police said they were examining if the vessel had a so-called kill cord - a line attached to the pilot designed to cut the engine if they were thrown away from the helm.Officers said the presence and state of a kill cord would be a "key focus of our investigation".]
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Poor Sods is all I can think.
 
rhumlady said:
Kill cords come to mind here or lack of them by the sound of it.
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A mate of mine, new to boating, bought a pre-owned speedboat & asked me to give him some tips on boat handling.
The previous owner had rigged the 'kill cord' so the cord end/clip was tied back to the plug via a cable tie.
You couldn't attach it to you without cutting the cable tie.
Just wonder how many others have done something similar or didn't bother.
Very sad
 
sailorman said:
From BBC news
[Police said they were examining if the vessel had a so-called kill cord - a line attached to the pilot designed to cut the engine if they were thrown away from the helm.Officers said the presence and state of a kill cord would be a "key focus of our investigation".]
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I would guess that it would take a minute to check if there was a kill cord.
 
rhumlady said:
Kill cords come to mind here or lack of them by the sound of it.
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Although I'm a 'yachtie', I also have PB lev 2 and a safety boat qual., also I trained members of the Maritime Volunteer Assoc. and coached dinghy safety boat crews in PB2, I strongly suspect that the helm of the boat was NOT wearing a kill cord, as If he had been, then the engine would have been cut immediately when he was detached from the boat. OK, providing that the kill cord switch was was fully operational, which should always be tested before leaving the jetty.

If he had a kill cord attached, the no matter what the power of the engine, the engine would have cut within 1 sec.

Although I cannot identify the engine power on the boat, it does not seem to be over-engined for that length of boat, I would estimate it in the 5 m.t range. ( I have in the past helmed 6 meter RIBs with twin 75 Hp engines on the back, now that is a lot of power, 0 to 30 knots within a very, very short time.

Also the club boats, which I was I/C of the safety boats that had 40hp engines on and they were very quick, as they were only 5 meter boats.

So let's wait to hear from the investigations, although I feel that we will only read by-line in the newspapers after the inquests.

However we may only find that the kill cord was not attached to the helm (or the supervisory helm), BUT we may never find out what the manoeuvre was that caused all the occupants to be ejected from the baot
 
Malcb said:
Although I cannot identify the engine power on the boat, it does not seem to be over-engined for that length of boat, I would estimate it in the 5 m.t range. ( I have in the past helmed 6 meter RIBs with twin 75 Hp engines on the back, now that is a lot of power, 0 to 30 knots within a very, very short time.
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I believe the boat has been stated to be 8m

In one of the pictures that has appeared the number 300 can be clearly seen on the outboard cover. 300 hp is awesome.
 
Witnesses say the boat made a very sharp turn immediately before they all fell out. No indications yet whether it was driver error, mechanical failure or collision. The guys on mobo chat say an engine of that size could cause a flip at high speed.
 
As far as I know one can't buy an outboard without a kill chord, and this has been the case for quite some time; the 5hp Mariner on my boat came with one over 10 years ago.

As it's a low power engine in the well of a sailing boat I don't attach the chord to myself.

These chords are always a bit of a faf to attach oneself to, I can imagine people not bothering especially if giving other people a go at ' driving ' - but on a boat and engine combination of the type in this accident...

I heard the brother of the deceased owner on the radio this morning, he remarked that the fact he and his daughter had died in their favourite place on a lovely day is a tiny consolation; that and the lesson to other boat users, but a horrible price to pay - I am not criticizing at all, no-one deserves this.
 
Seajet said:
I am not criticizing at all, no-one deserves this.
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Nor me. A truly horrid event, regardless of cause.

I've blatted around on over-powered ribs before now. A tender with 70hp on the back. Always wore the kill chord around my ankle, but you know what, sometimes I just went on a little potter up the marina, didn't bother with the kill chord, and found myself having decided to go for a quick spin at full tilt. Sometimes, people just do forget these things, and unfortunately in this case, it's gone badly wrong. Hopefully the good that will come of it, is more people remembering to check the chord is working.

What a terrible thing to have to live with though. Poor sods. It must have been terrifying to be in the water with 300hp tearing its way towards you.
 
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