Couple sue over yacht that smelt of rotten eggs
TWO wealthy financiers are suing a boatyard after their £500,000 yacht was allegedly plagued by a “vibrating” rudder and the smell of rotten eggs.
David Huber and Elena Lieskovska spent more than £500,000 in 2017 on the X4.3 yacht “Silver X”, but the acquisition turned out to be riddled with defects, their lawyers told the High Court.
The London-based couple are suing the company that sold them the vessel , X-yachts (GB) Ltd of Southampton, for their money back plus damages.
Mr Huber, 70, a wealthy financier and director of Mayfair-based MHW Associates, was said by his lawyers to have noticed problems with the rudder as he was conducting sea trials with the vessel in July 2018.
While t he yacht was berthed at Port Fréjus in the south of France around the same time, he noticed a strong smell of sulphur when testing the running water in the galley’s sink.
According to court documents, the smell was caused by the yacht being exposed to water containing hydrogen sulphide when it was built in Denmark.
Sebastian Kokelaar, the couple’s barrister, said that bacteria had entered the yacht’s internal seawater circulation systems, which could cause erosion that would be costly to repair.
Mr Huber and Ms Lieskovska, 49, head of insurance at global investment advisers Varde Partners, are also seeking £172,000 from the Danish manufacturers X-yachts A/S, which had received part of the sale price in the form of the couple’s old yacht, valued at £ 172,000. The couple claim the defects breach the sale contract and the 2015 Consumer Rights Act.
The seller and manufacturer “deny that the yacht did not conform to the contract in the manner alleged” and say the couple did not reject the delivered yacht within the 28-day limit for doing so. The case had a pre-hearing last week, ahead of a full trial of the claim later this year.