Mollie Louise - Persons overboard from sailing yacht Mollie Louise with loss of 1 life
What happened.
Three of the four crew were thrown from the cockpit of the 10.8 m yacht Mollie Louise when she was knocked down in heavy seas 25 nm off the Humber estuary; all wore lifejackets but no safety lines, and one of the three died before the rescue helicopter recovered them.
On 12 August 2006 the privately owned sailing yacht Mollie Louise was knocked down in heavy seas roughly 25 nautical miles off the Humber estuary. Three of her four crew, in the cockpit at the time, were thrown overboard — all were wearing lifejackets, but none was clipped on with a safety line. The fourth crewman was below and tried to raise the alarm, but the yacht's fixed VHF radio failed, probably as he transmitted the Mayday. The skipper, now in the water, got off a brief Mayday on his handheld VHF before being swamped. The yacht had, by chance, been in contact with the rig support vessel Putford Provider about five minutes before the knockdown; Putford Provider heard the broken Mayday calls, closed the yacht, and established loud-hailer contact with the remaining crewman. A rescue helicopter recovered the three people from the water one hour and twenty-five minutes after the Mayday. One of them died.
What it teaches.
- 1A lifejacket keeps you afloat; a tether keeps you aboard. All three who went over were wearing lifejackets and none was clipped on — the knockdown put them in the water in seconds. Clip on in the cockpit, not just on deck, whenever the sea makes a knockdown plausible.
- 2Plan for heavy weather before it arrives. The Chief Inspector's letter to the skipper and owner pressed making full use of weather forecast information, having back-up plans, and the benefit of hand steering in heavy seas.
- 3Your distress call needs a backup. The fixed VHF failed mid-Mayday; what got through was a handheld and prior contact with a nearby vessel. The report specifically notes the benefit of carrying an EPIRB, especially when operating outside coastguard VHF range.
Where this comes from.
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