Readers may remember the Cowes Week sailing incident a couple of years ago, when a yacht taking part in a high profile race collided with an enormous tanker.
We noticed the BBC had reported a couple of weeks ago that the skipper of the yacht was due to go on trial in October, and seeing it come up on the CP Website today reminded us about the case.
The dramatic collision took place on 6th August 2011 when the yacht ‘Atlanta of Chester’, skippered by Royal Navy officer Lt Roland Wilson, crossed the path of oncoming tanker ‘Hanne Knutsen’ off Egypt Point.
Captured on video
As you can see from the video below, the yacht darts across the front of the 120,000 tanker just in time to avoid a head-on collision, but several crew members jumped overboard and the mast was damaged
The skipper was accused by the Magistrates in Southampton of negligence and faces trial in October 2013.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Heribert Westerveld
