Family of Clipper sailor calls for changes
The family of Clipper Round the World Race sailor, Simon Speirs, is calling on Clipper Ventures to fully implement the recommendations of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), which has published its report into Speirs’ death. The 60-year-old died on Leg 3 of the 2017-18 edition after his tether hook failed when he fell overboard during a headsail change in rough weather in the Southern Ocean aboard the Clipper 70, CV30. The MAIB report highlights a number of safety issues including the dangers of lateral loading of tether hooks, foredeck operations, particularly changing headsails in heavy weather, and maintenance. It has recommended to Clipper that it reviews and updates its risk assessments and procedures for foredeck operations and methods for recovery of both tethered and untethered man overboards, as well as yacht maintenance and repair. It also made a safety recommendation to Spinlock, World Sailing and the British Standards Institute (BSI) to update guidance on the dangers of laterally loading safety tether hooks. Speirs is the third crew member to die in a Clipper race. In a statement, Clipper Ventures said safety was at the core of crew training and was its ‘highest priority’. It highlighted it has introduced a double tether system on all of its yachts which exceeds the ISO Standard. It stressed that damage will happen on race boats and that an experienced maintenance team was at every stopover. It also listed a number of inaccuracies in the MAIB report. For the full report, see pages 22-25.