A Circuit Court judge has advised all boating clubs using inland waterways to warn their members of the dangers of boating while having drunk alcohol after hearing how one man's €150,000 boat struck a rock on the Corrib river and sank.
Hearing evidence also that markers used to indicate hazardous rocks on the waterway might have been moved around by people using the river for racing, Judge Harvey Kenny said that practice should stop and only employees of the Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees should move or replace these markers.
George Ryder was in sight of his home at Newcastle near Galway city when his new boat, The Corsaire, sank on its maiden voyage just 200 metres from the Galway Rowing and Yachting Club clubhouse, in April 2002.
He sued the Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees for €34,672 damages, claiming the trustees were negligent in not having the offending rock properly marked. His boat had not been insured.
Mr Ryder claimed he had hit an unmarked rock about two miles from where his boat sank as he and his wife were making their way home at about 6.30pm from Inchagoill, an island in the middle of upper Lough Corrib.
The trustees' case was based on the defence that they were responsible for the navigation channel of the river only and that the rock in question was outside this channel.
They admitted the rock did have a permanent marker years ago, indicated on old maps as "R 11", but this marker was no longer there and another marker, a buoy, which was tethered to the bottom, had replaced the original marker and was known as "RX".
The court heard that people using the river moved markers to suit their own purposes, but when the engineer for the trustees, John Looby, made inquiries, he could not confirm this allegation.
Friends of Mr Ryder who were on Inchagoill Island on the day of the accident were subpoenaed to give evidence by defence barrister Lorraine Scully.
Mr Paul Horan, a solicitor, said the case had caused him "incredible grief".
He told the court that he had serious concerns for Mr Ryder taking the boat back to Galway that evening because he knew he had consumed alcohol while celebrating on his boat at Inchagoill that afternoon.
Judge Kenny ruled that Mr Ryder was 60 per cent negligent and awarded him 40 per cent of his claim, amounting to €13,868, plus 40 per cent costs.
The judge said he was satisfied the trustees had failed in their duty to properly mark and maintain these markers. However, he said, Mr Ryder was experienced on the Corrib with a good knowledge of the waterway.
"I'm satisfied he failed to rely on his own knowledge and skill in that he should have known the approximate position of the offending rock.
"Furthermore, the issue of alcohol was raised, and I'm satisfied his skills and knowledge of the waterway were impaired by the excessive alcohol he had consumed that afternoon."