Singled handed ocean racing under the spotlight

SINGLE HANDED ocean sailing is again under the spotlight following the recent ruling by a federal court in Charleston, South …

SINGLE HANDED ocean sailing is again under the spotlight following the recent ruling by a federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, against American solo yachtsman Dave Scully for failing to keep a proper lookout while one qualification transatlantic passage for last year's Round the World Race, the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) reported in its new Internet weekly news service.

The incident happened at night, 170 miles east of Nan tucket when his 60ft monohull Cvote hit the 62ft fishing boat Lady Olive Marie. At the time, Coyote's generator was inoperable and Scully had turned off the radar and radio to conserve battery power for his GPS navigator and auto pilot, but was lit by navigation lights.

The weather was too rough for fishing and the skipper of the fishing boat had decided to let his boat drift with the engine idling and the boat's running lights, masthead, after mast light and several deck lights on. His radar was also operating but the high seas caused clutter on the screen, rendering the instrument ineffective.

Coyote was running down wind at eight knots and Scully had been without sleep for much of the preceding 24 hours. The first he knew of the problem was when his yacht `tee boned' the Lady Olive Marie head on. Scully admitted in court that, after examining his yacht and finding her to be ok, he sailed away without making verbal contact with the fishing boat.

READ MORE

Skipper David Belliveau tried repeatedly to raise the yacht on Channel 16 but without success as Coyote's VRF remained turned off. He then gave chase until he found that his own boat had been holed and was taking water. Another fishing boat was joined by the United States Coastguard to come to his assistance.

Scully's lawyer argued that the powered fishing boat had an obligation to stay out of the way of any sailing vessel but the judge reportedly ruled that "Scully failed to maintain a lookout by sight or by hearing or by any other available means such as radar or radio. All the credible evidence is that he failed to maintain a proper lookout."

Rule 5 of the International Collision Regulations at Sea (COLREG) says "Every vessel shall, at all times, maintain a proper lookout by sight and sound as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision."

The IYRU last year decided to award French yachts woman Isabelle Austissier for being the first woman to win a leg of the IIOC race but the citation failed to mention the massive search instigated for her in the southern ocean by the Australian Navy at a considerable cost.

While Austissier was not in breach of collision regulations, the storm of publicity that included demands for survivors to be billed for the cost of their rescue has not furthered the cause of single handed sailing. Whether or not the Scully incident will lead to censure of such events and competitors remains to be seen.

The outcome may yet prove to be a compromise of the safety offered by mandatory double handed crews as against the additional and very real risks posed by the mavericks who chose to race solo on this planet's oceanic wilderness.

David Branigan

David Branigan

David Branigan is a contributor on sailing to The Irish Times