Two boats collide near Cockatoo Island in Sydney

Correct that to read "Idiot going too fast in power boat rams into yacht, then fails to render assistance and leaves the scene of the incident."

What a prick and I'll bet he was drunk!!

Pretty weird that a boat assist boat would crash into a yacht .id be pretty upset if that was my yacht .saw 2 guys recently near there fishing and drifting. Alot of wind and while 1 remained fishing the other was trying to start engine. Meanwhile i saw them bounce off 4 boats as they were blown into them. Syd harbour is full of these idiots and gets a wide berth from me til silly seasons done.

Yeah hit at 10knots supposedly. Left a gaping hole in side of what looks like a pretty nice bene or something. Power boat drivers are the most complacent on the harbour from what ive seen. Its baffling Considering they must be licensed etc. Im constantly manouvering myself and looking out for whats around. With no AP/constantly on the tiller and sails up its hard work in the harbour especially on a busy day.

The power boat was lodged into the yacht. Thats why they were stuck. Not too sus. Sounds like he was motoring at about 10knots not looking where he's going. Happens all the time. People focused on everything else except what theyre doing in the present time.
Then theres those that dont care. Just in front of cockatoo theres quite a big expanse of water. I went out 1 day in 30+knots in the bluebird double reefs number 4 sail to show the new buyer how well she went in that kinda weather. not 1 boat to be seen anywhere. From the harbour comes a big charter launch. Captains with lapels and officers shirts on motoring straight into my path, not respecting the starboard rule or the sails up rule at all. he came within metres off my bow. Not another vessel in sight but he just couldnt be arsed to change course slightly for us. All too common and its the only thing that makes the harbour tedious. Otherwise its a pretty special place to sail.

I imagine Sydney harbour has a lot of traffic on it and you would feed to keep a constant lookout

We have the same issues down here on the Huon





Regards Don

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Toph said..

That's priceless Toph....but lets see if HE"S still laughing when you knock on his door.

Hard to know what happened here. I suspect the power boat might have approached the yacht from abaft the beam of the yacht. Overtaking rules maybe?
The give way vessel should manoeuvre to avoid collision. The stand on vessel should stand on until a collision appears imminent unless it manoeuvres to avoid it when it is obliged to avoid the collision. It is a tricky situation and often not clearcut.

or a pair of these bad boys Sands

or the three queens

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SandS said..
Hg thats a ...........................GREAT VID !!!!!

you have inspired me to checkout the honker i have in the shed

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MorningBird said...
The give way vessel should manoeuvre to avoid collision. The stand on vessel should stand on until a collision appears imminent unless it manoeuvres to avoid it when it is obliged to avoid the collision. It is a tricky situation and often not clearcut.

The other thing you missed in the rule you quoted above is that the stand on vessel may take such action by its manoeuvre alone to avoid collision (as soon as it becomes apparent the other vessel is not taking sufficient avoiding action).
And, then if the two vessels are so close as collision can not be avoided by the actions of the give way vessel alone the stand on shall take such action as to aid in the avoidance of collision.

The other one that will get you is:

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International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea said... Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case.

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Toph said..
I'm not saying the pwr boat isn't at fault. I just think calling him a drunken prick that was speeding is a bit of a stretch. Inattension certainly seems to be a factor.

Without seeing a video of the actual collision, it looks to me like the sails are all nicely furled and Main too neatly in its bag to suggest it was under sail. That says to me that the pwr boat was the stand-on vessel (yes I'm aware that that doesn't translate to right of way/give way). The yacht here could well be the culprit of this accident.

Regardless of the right of way rules it is the duty of all vessel masters to take whatever measures necessary to avoid collisions.

The yacht was not moving under sail alone and therefore is classified as a motor vessel. The other vessel approached it from it's starboard side presenting it's port side which indicates the yacht is the give way vessel.

However with that approach configuration, the speed of the motor boat at 10 knots, the impossibility of the yacht travelling at 10 knots, the indication is that the motor boat was an overtaking vessel approaching the other vessel from abaft the other vessel's beam thereby being the give way vessel.

One must ask the question, were the masters of both vessels tested for breath alcohol levels immediately after the incident??? I am sure whichever insurance companies are involved will be asking that question.

I think it is highly unlikely that the behaviour of the master of the yacht is the cause of this incident.

Did the Caribbean on Disney Magic. Unfortunately as seen in this video, the older Magic only knows one song. Great spot though, Castaway Cay in the Bahamas, Disney's private Island which was a former drug runners stop.

Can't stand the things....i get bored of riding 1 in no time.

Golden rule is if your boat is involved in collision yo have breached the colregs. Not a good look for Boat Assist which took over when SeaTow closed down. Ruined the day for the yachtie and I wonder if the BoatAssist employee still has a job.