'Key Safety Issues For All Sailors' In Maib Report On Clipper Deaths

'Key Safety Issues For All Sailors' In Maib Report On Clipper Deaths

- Theo Stocker

A report on two deaths in the 2015-16 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has recommended that the amateur crews would have benefited from more professional oversight.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), published its final report in April, after an investigation into two fatal accidents on the yacht CV21 IchorCoal, the first fatalities in the event's history.

In September 2015, shortly after the start of the race, Andrew Shipman, 49, a watch leader who was supervising reefing the mainsail while sailing downwind, was hit by the mainsheet when the boat gybed accidentally and the boom preventer snapped. He received ‘a high impact neck injury that is believed to have killed him instantly.’ The investigation found that he had stepped into the recognised danger zone, in which it was possible to be caught in the event of a gybe, and attributed this to a moment of inattention due to preoccupation with supervising the manoeuvre.