Who should be blamed in this collision???

[fireball]

I'm glad we broadly agree, Fireball. I've had some dinghy-disasters myself (destructive but not injurious), but I'd say they're on a different scale to the yacht/tanker scene. Plus, ramming a sandbank or a cardinal mark may be very unpleasant, but at least the collision is with something inert, notwithstanding the tide - it's not ploughing along unstoppably, and with a position made intrinsically harder to judge thereby.

Oh - just because an object is inert doesn't follow that it is easier to judge it's position ... 22 knots and a daggerboard sticking out a few feet quickly finds the bottom You stop pretty quickly after that ...
Most catastrophic one I've seen from that is a "bow stand" - they snapped their bowsprit too ... luckily the mast survived ... Daggerboard socket needed a bit of a repair though!

 

[dancrane]

Try pitchpoling a Laser in five feet of water! Before the days of phone-cameras and Youtube, unfortunately...

It was mis-handled, magnificently, I admit. I'd never seen a Laser go transom-over-stem, that way, and I still haven't, but I'm told it was spectacular...

Lower mast destroyed, luff ripped.

 

[flaming]

Hypothetically.....If the yacht skipper had seen the ship, say a good few minutes before the collision and made the decision to cross the ships bow, would it have been prudent to have had the engine running ready to engage if things were too tight?

If he saw it, and had made the decision to cut it that close, then he's a moron. And the wind was pretty fresh - in that boat he's going much faster with the kite up than with his engine on.

I have once fired up the engine when almost becalmed in the channel much further east with a big ship approaching. But in the event the pilot saw the situation with about 10 boats close together and barely moving, gave 1 blast and calmly turned slightly to Starboard and passed clear. As he passed engines were being switched off all over the fleet....

 

[dancrane]

D'you suppose it's only the wider world outside Cowes, that doesn't know the individual responsible that day?

Can't anyone name the yacht?

Is there a sloop with orange streaks along its port side, moored near you? Oh yes, and it may have the mast missing...

If so, freephone Idiotwatch. And remember, incidents like these are very rare, so..."don't have nightmares".

 

[AntarcticPilot]

God used to be handy for that but now most of us don't believe, so we have to find a substitute (or even as a desperate last resort - blame ourselves)

Actually, census returns don't bear out the "most of us don't believe" statement. But fewer people are involved in organized religion on a regular basis.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Actually, census returns don't bear out the "most of us don't believe" statement. But fewer people are involved in organized religion on a regular basis.

" Those who believe in nothing still need someone to believe in them "

I expect the yacht skipper is thinking this now.

Must have been diabolical for the tanker skipper too.

Anyway, everyone ok, we have all learnt something and will do us good for the future.

 

[Twister_Ken]

D'you suppose it's only the wider world outside Cowes, that doesn't know the individual responsible that day?

Can't anyone name the yacht?

Is there a sloop with orange streaks along its port side, moored near you? Oh yes, and it may have the mast missing...

If so, freephone Idiotwatch. And remember, incidents like these are very rare, so..."don't have nightmares".

Name of the boat is common knowledge. Atlanta of Chester. What's shrouded in mystery is the identity of the driver. My information, which may not be from a reliable source (they were drunk at the time) is that it was a VERY senior RN officer.

 

[chriscoreline]

My information, which may not be from a reliable source (they were drunk at the time) is that it was a VERY senior RN officer.

fair enough, they were unlikley to have much experience with steering boats then

 

[dancrane]

Am I alone, thinking this isn't much different to gross incompetence on the road? I mean, it wouldn't, couldn't easily be hushed up - if an MP or peer, or one of the Windsors, or a military bigwig or high-court judge escaped a hideous road accident by the skin of his wig.

The 'senior RN' suggestion sounds too outrageous to be true, but I want to know what is true. It can't only be the subject of whispered drunken rumours. There's no more decency in covering up for this skipper, than for anyone positioned higher than his ability justified. Let's have his name!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Am I alone, thinking this isn't much different to gross incompetence on the road? I mean, it wouldn't, couldn't easily be hushed up - if an MP or peer, or one of the Windsors, or a military bigwig or high-court judge escaped a hideous road accident by the skin of his wig.

Wouldn't it? Couldn't it?

"I say, old boy, there's a K in this for you if you can make sure this gets no further than the two of us."

 

[colingr]

Just picked up a rumour on another forum that the skipper was also the chap who bailed out just before the collision

But do bear in mind that this in a rumour and not backed up with any evidence yet.

 

[Poignard]

Just picked up a rumour on another forum that the skipper was also the chap who bailed out just before the collision

But do bear in mind that this in a rumour and not backed up with any evidence yet.

(deleted)

 

[dancrane]

QUOTE (Twister Ken): Wouldn't it? Couldn't it?

"I say, old boy, there's a K in this for you if you can make sure this gets no further than the two of us."

Yes...yes. I felt naive, as I suggested otherwise.

Don't know why this even bothers me so much. I've made plenty of mistakes, fortunately not under televisual scrutiny.

Won't there be recoverable records of who was skippering Atlanta of Chester, that day? Aren't there very specific logs of skippers and crews for all boats in all races? Pretty slack work, if not.

 

[VicS]

Won't there be recoverable records of who was skippering Atlanta of Chester, that day? Aren't there very specific logs of skippers and crews for all boats in all races? Pretty slack work, if not.

I am fairly sure the name of the skipper appears in the original thread but not difficult to find on the Cowes week website.

http://www.aamcowesweek.co.uk/web/c...n=takingpart&page=boatdetails2011&boatref=486

 

[fireball]

Also entered into Round the Island
And crew information was : "Seven serving members of the Royal Navy - two recently retired."

Not that it's necessarily the same crew as he had for Cowes Week ...

 

[flaming]

I am fairly sure the name of the skipper appears in the original thread but not difficult to find on the Cowes week website.

http://www.aamcowesweek.co.uk/web/c...n=takingpart&page=boatdetails2011&boatref=486

I wouldn't take that as being definitely the chap at the helm. If, as is suggested, he chartered the boat out he could simply have put his name on the entry form to make the paperwork easier, rather than contacting the charterers to ask for their details.

 

[VicS]

Also entered into Round the Island
And crew information was : "Seven serving members of the Royal Navy - two recently retired."

Not that it's necessarily the same crew as he had for Cowes Week ...

But with all nine either serving or recently retired RN officers the skipper must have been ... Adds weight to the conspiracy theory.

 

[dancrane]

I read that the owner/skipper is Roly Wilson. And, that he was Lt. Roly Wilson as recently as 2010. Does that make him untouchably senior?

I hope we'll hear the truth. God forbid that this fellow should take the blame if he wasn't aboard when some goon screwed things up. Are they the Navy, or the masons?

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

The most important thing after their having been no serious injury or death, is to put measures into place that minimize this close encounter happening again.
Forumites seem to be consistently after the skippers blood.... perhaps he will suffer/has suffered well enough.
Perhaps some positive points would now be more approprite and in keeping rather than continueing our criticisms?

 

[fireball]

The most important thing after their having been no serious injury or death, is to put measures into place that minimize this close encounter happening again.

Oh - please no ...

It really annoys me when you see people get on the news with 'It's so sad ... My little Jonny had an accident and it was all the fault of xxxx. We must put laws in place so it never happens again..."

People have accidents, some people need the Darwin award ...

!! WE DO NOT NEED MORE REGULATION !! just because there are a few twits that get it wrong - for whatever reason.

The racing yacht that was hit was in the wrong place - by existing bylaws he shouldn't have been there, by existing Racing notices he shouldn't have been there ...

No extra rules/regulations will prevent ALL accidents ... you just cannot make up rules for all the permutations and combination of events that lead up to most accidents ...