Fatal accident on Buzzards Bay

[bubb2]

Just a Question for everyone, Was the sailboat inside or outside the breakwater at the time of the crash?

[Jasper101]

This is a very sad story.
I wish their family the very best.

[sailingdog]

IIRC, it was out on Buzzards Bay proper...

Originally Posted by bubb2

Just a Question for everyone, Was the sailboat inside or outside the breakwater at the time of the crash?

[Omatako]

Originally Posted by bubb2

Dockhead, you are making assumptions again, Monday morning quarterbacking. The survivor on the sailboat said, they were not aware of the power boat until it was 100 yards away.

Unless you have access to facts that we don't, your 15 min exercise does not apply.

That is an indiictment in itself. Clearly both boats were not keeping a decent watch.

I agree with Dockhead, there was ample time for anyone keeping a decent watch to spot a collision developing. I haven't read this whole thread but based on the last series of posts, there is something of a split responsibility in this.

I don't know how it works in the States but in South Africa and in New Zealand, if a motorist runs a red light and another motorist pulls off in front of him from the green light, they share the responsibility for the accident, the logic being that a green right means it is your turn, not that you have absolute right of way. You still have a responsibility to ensure that the way is clear.

The same logic applies in the Colregs for a collision at sea.

[Dockhead]

I wasn't really talking about whether the poor dead sailor, D.J., had any fault in the accident. For what it's worth, I don't think he did, but I think it hardly matters in any case, now.

The only point I was trying to make is that he could have avoided the accident and could have saved his own life if he had been keeping a sharper watch behind. This story shook me up, and will certainly make me much more careful; I hope it helps someone here too. It would be a good legacy for D.J. if someone else is saved because of his story.

[bubb2]

I




The above links are photo's of the boats.


I have to disagree with the assessment of a few following this crash. Mr Bevins (powerboat operator) plead guilty to causing this crash, Thereby saying he was responsible for the crash. He also said at the time of the crash he was "reseting his GPS."

One would have to ask why was he "reseting his GPS" did he just pass a way point and was inputing a new one?

The survivor on the sailboat Mr Hathaway statement was that he heard Mr. Walsh yell "what is he doing." just before the crash. Mr Walsh was at the helm of the sailboat and was killed in the crash.

It has troubled me to hear that some think that the sailboat operator was somehow responsible for his fate, By not keeping a proper lookout.

48 hours ago I made a phone call to to one of the busiest Marine Insurance surveyors here in New York who is a very good friend of mine. I asked him if he knew anything about the crash. He said he had heard some things but nothing first hand. He also said, let me make a couple calls and I will get back to you.

I got the phone call this morning.

The scuttlebutt, is the powerboat would have passed to the stern of the sailboat in a crossing situation left to right. But just seconds before the crash the powerboats course changed and it crashed into the sailboat. This was confirmed by the laptop and Gps track log on the power boat.

It is understood that the powerboats autopilot was disengaged at this time also.

My buddy said, It is clear to those on the "inside" "That power boat drifted off it's course just seconds prior to the crash and the sailboat didn't have a chance."

This makes things much more clear for me.

<****** language=javascript type=text/javascript> aryImgs[imgCounter] = "/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=NB&Date=20080722&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=807220323&Ref=AR&MaxW=570&MaxH=370&title=1&border=0"; aryCaps[imgCounter] = "Investigators%20say%20they%20know%20the%20answer%2 0but%20are%20not%20yet%20saying%20whether%20anyone %20was%20at%20the%20helm%20of%20the%20Reasons%2C%2 0a%2063-foot%20power%20boat%2C%20when%20it%20hit%20the%20P riority%2C%20a%2035-foot%20sailboat.%20Both%20boats%20are%20shown%20at %20Fairhaven%20Shipyard%20and%20Marina.

JOHN SLADEWSKI

"; bolImages=true;<****** language=javascript type=text/javascript> imgCounter += 1; aryImgs[imgCounter] = "/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=NB&Date=20080722&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=807220323&Ref=V1&MaxW=570&MaxH=370&title=1&border=0"; aryCaps[imgCounter] = "
";

[tweitz]

I agree we sailors should keep a lookout and watch for any potential collision. But a sailboat going 5 knots or so, and with its somewhat limited maneuverability under sail, can do little about a powerboat coming at 35 knots which can instantly maneuver wihout regard to the wind. The sailboat, having the right of way, is the burdened vessel and is supposed to maintain course and speed. The powerboat is permitted to rely on that.

Although I always try to avoid the near miss situation, if we get close the sailor is faced with an impossible choice. Maintain course and you risk a collision. Change course and you still risk a collision. The vessel with vastly higher speed has to be the one to maneuver, except in the case of a giant ship which has limited ability to maneuver, and then the sailor does not have to worry about a sharp turn.

Which is all a long way of saying that the fault seems to me to lie with the high speed vessel. We all often encounter power boats on the water that do not keep an adequate lookout and do not seem to understand that at 35 knots there is one seventh the reaction time that there is at 5 knots, and there are no brakes on a boat.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by bubb2

I




The above links are photo's of the boats.


I have to disagree with the assessment of a few following this crash. Mr Bevins (powerboat operator) plead guilty to causing this crash, Thereby saying he was responsible for the crash. He also said at the time of the crash he was "reseting his GPS."

One would have to why was he "reseting his GPS" did he just pass a way point and was inputing a new one?

The survivor on the sailboat Mr Hathaway statement was that he heard Mr. Walsh yell "what is he doing." just before the crash. Mr Walsh was at the helm of the sailboat and was killed in the crash.

It has troubled me to hear that some think that the sailboat operator was somehow responsible for his fate, By not keeping a proper lookout.

48 hours ago I made a phone call to to one of the busiest Marine Insurance surveyors here in New York who is a very good friend of mine. I asked him if he knew anything about the crash. He said he had heard some things but nothing first hand. He also said, let me make a couple calls and I will get back to you.

I got the phone call this morning.

The scuttlebutt, is the powerboat would have passed to the stern of the sailboat in a crossing situation left to right. But just seconds before the crash the powerboats course changed and it crashed into the sailboat. This was confirmed by the laptop and Gps track log on the power boat.

It is understood that the powerboats autopilot was disengaged at this time also.

My buddy said, It is clear to those on the "inside" "That power boat drifted off it's course just seconds prior to the crash and the sailboat didn't have a chance."

This makes things much more clear for me.

<****** language=javascript type=text/javascript> aryImgs[imgCounter] = "/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=NB&Date=20080722&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=807220323&Ref=AR&MaxW=570&MaxH=370&title=1&border=0"; aryCaps[imgCounter] = "Investigators%20say%20they%20know%20the%20answer%2 0but%20are%20not%20yet%20saying%20whether%20anyone %20was%20at%20the%20helm%20of%20the%20Reasons%2C%2 0a%2063-foot%20power%20boat%2C%20when%20it%20hit%20the%20P riority%2C%20a%2035-foot%20sailboat.%20Both%20boats%20are%20shown%20at %20Fairhaven%20Shipyard%20and%20Marina.

JOHN SLADEWSKI

"; bolImages=true;<****** language=javascript type=text/javascript> imgCounter += 1; aryImgs[imgCounter] = "/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=NB&Date=20080722&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=807220323&Ref=V1&MaxW=570&MaxH=370&title=1&border=0"; aryCaps[imgCounter] = "
";

If the powerboat swerved into him at high speed and at the last second, then that is different from the way the accident was described before (powerboat on autopilot). In that case then of course -- no chance for the poor sailor whatever lookout he was keeping.

If the powerboat was indeed on autopilot, then a good lookout could have prevented the accident. Let's us all avoid that situation, shall we? Whatever it was that really happened to poor D.J.

[bubb2]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

If the powerboat swerved into him at high speed and at the last second, then that is different from the way the accident was described before (powerboat on autopilot). In that case then of course -- no chance for the poor sailor whatever lookout he was keeping.

If the powerboat was indeed on autopilot, then a good lookout could have prevented the accident. Let's us all avoid that situation, shall we? Whatever it was that really happened to poor D.J.

Dockhead, just where did you see a report of the crash that the autopilot was on? I went back though the thread and read every newspaper account and no mention was made of the autopilot. The newspaper got it wrong that the boat was not hit in the stern but the port quarter.

The autopilot was mentioned in post #8 but that was speculation by a Sailnet member.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by bubb2

Dockhead, just where did you see a report of the crash that the autopilot was on? I went back though the thread and read every newspaper account and no mention was made of the autopilot. The newspaper got it wrong that the boat was not hit in the stern but the port quarter.

The autopilot was mentioned in post #8 but that was speculation by a Sailnet member.

I have no source of information other than the thread. But the problem we were discussing -- whether we can, and how to avoid being run down by a powerboat on autopilot in the open sea -- is no less interesting, just because this actual case didn't happen that way. It's a scenario I worry about. It was a great discussion, which I hope will help all of us.