Cheeki Rafiki owner ‘knew doomed ship was unsafe’
A YACHTING company director told four sailors to cross the Atlantic in an unsafe vessel, then carried on drinking and went to another pub when the doomed crew contacted him to say they were taking on water, a court has heard.
Douglas Innes allegedly “turned a blind eye for profit” and failed to have the “unsafe and broken” vessel checked by safety inspectors so he could cut costs. It is claimed Mr Innes told the inexperienced crew to take a “dangerous” Atlantic route despite knowing the 40ft yacht’s permit was out of date, and it was not authorised to travel more than 60 miles unaccompanied.
James Male, 22, Andrew Bridge, 22, Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin, 56, died when Cheeki Rafiki sank sailing back to the Britain from Antigua in May 2014. Mr Innes, of Southampton, Hants, denies four counts of manslaughter as well as failing to operate a ship in a safe manner. His company, Stormforce Coaching Ltd, also faces the latter charge.
Winchester Crown Court heard the 42-year-old failed to have Cheeki Rafiki checked by an inspector before the trip, even though it had been through “three years of hard racing” and had run aground three times.
Bolts were missing from the keel before the vessel even left Antigua and it eventually broke away from the hull before the yacht sank. A week-long search involving the US coastguard found the yacht off the American coast. The sailors’ bodies were never located.
Nigel Lickley QC, prosecuting, said Mr Innes “was responsible for the deaths and failed to do what a competent person in his position would do”.
“He turned a blind eye for profit and cut corners to save costs,” he added.
Mr Male, of Southampton, Hants, and Mr Bridge, of Farnham, Surrey, were both Stormforce Coaching Ltd employees. Mr Warren and Mr Goslin, both of Somerset, were following their “lifetime” dream, the court heard. Mr Lickley said Mr Innes was at a pub when he received an email from the crew saying the yacht was taking on water, adding: “Despite that he did not call the coastguard in the UK. He went to another pub and carried on drinking.”
He then received a call from Mr Bridge saying the situation was deteriorating. “He went home and called them back and called the coastguard. In his call he does not express any sense of urgency,” said Mr Lickley. The trial, due to last