Yacht dismasted by tanker off Cowes

[Flyer69]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tUoU...layer_embedded

[dougpine]

"Moron Hits Ship" would be a more accurate title for the video.

[Flyer69]

Yep, I concur.
Apparently he was blinded by the neon pink of his chute and could not see the huge tanker coming his way.
The video comments are great

[dougpine]

Yep, I concur.
Apparently he was blinded by the neon pink of his chute and could not see the huge tanker coming his way.
The video comments are great

Apparently he was deafened by his monster ego, and didn't hear the five short blasts, three of which are heard as the video begins.

[salt'n steel]

It never ceases to amaze me the boneheads who try and cut across a ship's bow. Unless his situational awareness was totally lacking, he was probably saying "sailboats have the right-of-way, he has to let me by" or something idiotic. He's very lucky no one was killed on his boat.

[cappy208]

I believe the last three words uttered by the sailor were: Sheet, Guy.... SHIT!

[cappy208]

I Unless his situational awareness was totally lacking...... He's very lucky no one was killed on his boat.

Being a sailboater (Oh gheesh, don't think less of me!) I have known since I was a whippersnapper that Yachters have about a 75' "Situational Awareness" envelope. They don't see the horizon as far as concerning other boats. Especially commercial traffic. Most yachts have very, and I mean VERY short turning radii. A sailboat can turn around in its own length. The view is that a yacht can simply 'turn away' from whatever danger presents leads to myopia by the yachter.

Nevermind that it appears that the only sentence in the 'Rule of the Road' that sailboaters read is that sailing vessels have the right of way........ Then they stop reading the rest of the book.

Regarding these types of races, the lead boats (Of which this Darwin Award Candidate is amongst) typically closely observe, and attempt to mimic the leaders. The boats racing are usually pretty close capability-wise. So the only way to beat an opponent is to 'fine tune' what you are doing in relation to the other guy. The closer they mimic each other, the better chances of catching (and beating) an opponent are. Rarely do sailboat races devolve into everyone going in a different direction, different tack, different philosophys. Once they separate it is very likely that one boat will be heads and tails gone from the pack when they re converge on a race turning mark. These Idiots forget that there are other users of the water that they must be aware of, and navigate around too.