Mollie - Pulled into a powered winch off the Needles: the Mollie
Three years into a round-the-world voyage, Mollie's 74-year-old skipper was drawn onto a faulty electric winch while clearing a rope left turned around it, and died of crush injuries off the Isle of Wight.
What happened.
On 5 August 2025, three years into a round-the-world voyage, the 74-year-old skipper of the New Zealand yacht Mollie was killed when he was drawn onto a powered winch about 2.8 miles off the Needles, Isle of Wight. Clearing a rope left turned around the faulty electric winch, his hand was caught and the winch pulled him onto the drum. An RNLI crew freed him, but he died of crush injuries.
On 5 August 2025, about 2.8 nautical miles south-southwest of the Needles Lighthouse off the Isle of Wight, the skipper of the New Zealand-registered sailing yacht Mollie, 74-year-old Lyall Babington, was fatally injured by a powered winch. He was around three years into a planned round-the-world voyage from New Zealand. Earlier that day the inboard winch had been used to hoist the tender, and the hoist rope had been left turned around the drum. As the skipper began to clear the rope, the winch started to turn; his right hand was caught and the winch progressively drew him onto the drum, causing severe injuries. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch found that the winch had a known intermittent defect in its control switch, which could leave it running after the switch was released, and that the aft winches had no local emergency stop and no quick means of isolation short of switching off the vessel's 24V batteries in the forward cabin. An RNLI crew that boarded to free him was endangered when the winch activated again without warning; despite CPR, the skipper was declared dead.
What it teaches.
- 1A powered winch with a turn on it is a trap — isolate the power before you clear it. The skipper's hand caught in a rope left turned around the inboard winch, and as it ran it drew him onto the drum. Never clear a riding turn on a powered winch live or under load: take the power off first.
- 2Fix known defects before you sail, not 'someday'. Mollie's winch had a known intermittent switch fault that let it keep running after the switch was released. An occasional fault on powered deck machinery is a sailing-stopper — repair it or isolate the gear until it is fixed.
- 3Powered deck machinery needs an emergency stop and quick isolation. Mollie's aft winches had no local e-stop and no fast way to cut power short of shutting off the batteries in the forward cabin. Fit an accessible emergency stop or isolator within reach of the winch itself.
- 4The danger doesn't end when help arrives — kill the power first. As the RNLI crew tried to free the skipper, the winch activated again without warning. Before anyone works on someone entangled in machinery, isolate its power; a live winch can injure the rescuers as readily as the casualty.
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