Incident No. 12 - Double Tragedy

9:07 PM Sun 20 Sep 2009 GMT

'The capsize' .

The best mistakes to learn by are other people's. This is especially so with sailing.

In this anecdote, the twelfth of a series, we present a real sailing situation which was investigated by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), and SEVEN lessons deduced. Can you identify the lessons? (Find the answers at the end of the story)

(Please note that the photographs of the sailing boat capsizing and the swamped cockpit were taken during tests conducted after the incident)
When on a short coastal passage, a 4m trailersailer capsized about 1300 metres from the nearest point of land. On board were its owner, an adult crewman and two children. All were dressed in shorts and 'T' shirts. The owner was wearing a lifejacket, and the remainder of the crew wore buoyancy aids.

Following capsize, two attempts were made to right the boat, which had fully inverted. Despite the wind being between force 5 and 6, and waves at a height of about 1.5m, the boat was rotated to an upright position on both occasions, but quickly capsized and inverted again.

Owner’s life jacket - .. .

Following the attempts to right the boat, it was noticed that the boat's owner had not been able to inflate his lifejacket. Consequently, the adult crewman located and pulled the toggle fitted to his lifejacket, which then inflated.

However, the lifejacket did not appear to be fitted correctly, and the owner struggled to keep his mouth clear of the water. He died from a combination of hypothermia and drowning about 10 minutes after the initial capsize.

The remaining crew held onto the upturned hull, until they were seen by a passing charter fishing vessel, and recovered on board.

They had spent at least 11/2 hours in the water. Both children were taken to hospital by helicopter, but the youngest child was pronounced dead on arrival; he died from hypothermia. The boat was towed to the shore and beached in its inverted condition.

Cockpit fully swamped - .. .

The flares carried inside the boat's cabin were found to be out of date. The boat was purchased at a boat show 4 months before the accident. Its crew was very inexperienced, and was not aware of the predicted wind or sea conditions. Affixed to the boat was a builder's plate which indicated that its maximum occupancy was three persons, and that the boat conformed to the stability and buoyancy requirements of the Recreational Craft Directive for a boat of Design Category C (Inshore Waters).

However, tests conducted after the accident (see images) showed that the boat did not meet these requirements. Although a generic manual relating to maintenance was provided with the boat, information specific to the operation of the boat was not.

Click here for the SEVEN lessons that the MAIB deduced.

Sail-World Cruising is grateful to MAIB for its permission to use these incidents

To try your hand at the previously published incidents, along with the lessons, click the following links:

Incident No. 1

Incident No. 2

Incident No. 3

Incident No. 4

Incident No. 5

Incident No. 6

Incident No. 7

Incident No. 8

Incident No. 9

Incident No. 10

Incident No. 11

by MAIB/Sail-World Cruising