Collision Trial
A Royal Navy lieutenant crashed his racing yacht into an oil tanker after sailing 'perilously close' to the 120,000-ton vessel despite having seen it from five miles away, a court has heard.
Roland Wilson, 32, from Stanley in Perthshire, is alleged to have been negligent after his boat, Atalanta of Chester, was involved in the collision which took place on the first day of the Cowes Week racing regatta in August 2011.
The Navigation Rules (COLREGS) are designed to prevent collisions; they favor the least maneuverable vessel when a collision situation exists. While small sailing yachts are governed by wind direction, they are still more maneuverable than a large tanker proceeding at "Slow Ahead." Whether or not the Pilot of the tanker should have been proceeding through a yacht race is another question. Plenty of blame to go around here.
To paraphrase one of the comments posted when this video first appeared, "those tankers are hard to see—they should be required to paint them orange!"
-fl