With the Youtube video approaching a million views (making it one of the most-viewed sailing videos in the history of the interwebs), a Southampton magistrate yesterday dropped a cool £100,000 penalty on navy officer Roland Wilson for breaking three COLREGS requirements before scratching the Hanne Knutsen’s anchor. (1) He failed to keep an adequate lookout, (2) he impeded a large vessel in a narrow channel, and (3) he impeded a vessel constrained by his draft.
The 100k (called ‘costs’ by the court) will likely be covered by Wilson’s insurance policy, but he’ll still need to come up with another 3 grand in fines. Wanna know more, or do you know more? Hit the thread. And before your next regatta in a TSS zone, you might want to read up on How To Avoid Huge Ships.
