The Clipper round the world yacht race was created for amateurs seeking the ultimate challenge. But did they underestimate the risks?
On 18 November 2017, Simon Speirs, 60, a retired lawyer from Bristol, was hauling on his waterproofs below deck on a yacht in rough seas in the Southern Ocean. For nearly three months, he’d endured cold, cramped quarters, soaked clothing, sea sickness and very little sleep. As one of the crews competing in the Clipper Round the World yacht race, Speirs had completed more than 13,000 nautical miles since leaving Britain, but the wild remoteness of the Southern Ocean was more challenging than anything he had experienced before.
Speirs had a hacking cough and a heavy cold, but as leader of the watch he had to get out on deck. The race had so far taken them across the northern Atlantic Ocean to Uruguay and back across the southern Atlantic to South Africa. Two months in, he’d asked for a break. But after only a week his replacement had fallen out of his bunk and hurt his wrist, and Speirs had to resume his role.
By 2pm, the wind was getting stronger; the yacht lurched up and down waves the size of steep hills. The captain ordered the crew to change the headsail to make the boat easier to control. Speirs made his way to the foredeck, but, at that moment, a massive wave hit, sweeping him over the side.
Speirs was still attached to the boat with a tether. For several minutes he was dragged behind the boat in the roiling waves, while the crew tried to haul him back in. Then the clip on his harness snapped, and he lost contact with the yacht. It took three attempts and 32 minutes to pull him back on board, by which time he was dead.
Is this really a tragedy? I’m into adventure sports, although I haven’t had an opportunity to sail in a while and have toned it down due to fatherhood. But The real risk of real death is part of...
Is this really a tragedy?
I’m into adventure sports, although I haven’t had an opportunity to sail in a while and have toned it down due to fatherhood. But The real risk of real death is part of the draw. And quit frankly, once my responsibilities to my kids and community are fulfilled, I can’t think of a better way to go than adventuring.
Did you actually read the article? This wasn’t just an ordinary sailing accident. The company behind this event specifically lobbied to loosen safety regulations so they only needed to provide one...
Did you actually read the article? This wasn’t just an ordinary sailing accident. The company behind this event specifically lobbied to loosen safety regulations so they only needed to provide one fully-trained, professional crewmember per vessel. They also allowed too many inexperienced sailors on each vessel which lead to the few capable ones having to take on all the responsibilities during storms, and other crises, causing them to become exhausted during the long and more treacherous sections of the route. All of this is what lead to the death. So yeah, I would call that tragic… and also severely negligent on the part of the company and its CEO.
I didn’t read tfa, but I still stand by what I said. If the company made wild representations about the safety of the trip to the grossly inexperienced, any death among them would be seriously...
I didn’t read tfa, but I still stand by what I said. If the company made wild representations about the safety of the trip to the grossly inexperienced, any death among them would be seriously problematic, and also, yes, tragic.
But the summary suggests he was experienced. Challenge events like this have qualifying criteria required before participating. Again, if this one did not and you had true lubbers on board, we’re looking at something really bad. But I find it highly unlikely that even the inexperienced crew were so green they had not been on serious voyages previously and were aware of the risk of death. Even ordinary runs across predicted calm seas can end in entire veteran crews lost at sea. Experienced sailors take their craft very seriously. There might be wildcards, but very few would embark on this kind of voyage with a crew they didn’t think could handle the worst seas at least long enough to be rescued.
And this is what makes a regatta exciting, and a successful voyage satisfying. This was not a pleasure cruise, this was an elite competition.[see edit below]
I’ll repeat, too, this is one way i would want to go, testing myself against the elements. I’ve broken bones and earned plenty scars, I’m better for the experiences. I take small risks until my kids are grown and educated. But after that, I’m signing up.
Edit:
The route takes in some of the world’s most treacherous seas, but you don’t need any sailing experience to participate. According to Clipper Ventures, the company that runs the race, around 40% of participants are complete novices
Ok this is totally not cool, and I’m surprised at the veterans’ willingness to participate. I do not like this timeline.
To anyone who happens to be contemplating this sort of thing-if you are going to do a challenge event, be willing to suffer permanent disability or death.
Prime example of why it's best to actually read the article before commenting. ;) And keep in mind that 40% figure is what the company says, but a participant who left after one particularly...
Ok this is totally not cool, and I’m surprised at the veterans’ willingness to participate. I do not like this timeline.
Prime example of why it's best to actually read the article before commenting. ;)
And keep in mind that 40% figure is what the company says, but a participant who left after one particularly grueling leg suggested otherwise.
We had 18 people on board and there was probably only four or five of us that managed to keep the boat sailing. The rest were incapacitated downstairs. I was burning myself out covering for other people. When we pulled up into the dock, I packed my bags and I said, I’m done, it’s not safe.”
And then there was also all the poor condition of the boats, and all the safety issues that caused.
Apart from injuries and fatigue among the crew of Great Britain, a major concern was the condition of the boat. In an email to Clipper’s management on 3 July 2017, six weeks before the start of the race, Speirs had pointed out that Great Britain was leaking. “Still working hard to keep water out. Not easy job and pretty hairy when boat kicking around. This should have been sorted out at refit before handover. It’s a safety issue,” Speirs wrote in his blog on 12 August.
The boat was still leaking when it left Liverpool on 20 August 2017. Within two days the generator packed up. The water maker, which turns salt water into drinking water, didn’t work for three weeks. Andy [Burns, the captain] was spending his entire time dealing with maintenance issues on a boat that was three weeks into a year-long circumnavigation,” said Mark Tucker. “If he’s down below sorting out why the water maker doesn’t work or the generator doesn’t work, he’s not on deck coaching people, making sure the boat’s being sailed safely.”
As part of its investigation, MAIB singled out an issue with the guardrail and supporting stanchions, which may have been partly responsible for Speirs’s death. The guardrail, which was designed to keep crew from falling overboard, was damaged in rough seas on 4 November, 13 days before Speirs’s accident. The crew managed to lash up the guardrail by wrapping rope around it. “The repair was not great,” said Tim Jeffery. “We had to be extra careful on the foredeck after that.”
The MAIB report identified a series of problems with Great Britain. “The cumulative effect of the defects was to increase workload for the crew, contributing to their fatigue, lowering morale, and distracting from sailing and gaining sailing experience,” it stated.
There were problems on other boats. Unicef had to be bailed out every four hours, on legs one and two, according to one round-the-world sailor. Unicef started the race with a broken fuel pump. The generator failed on the first leg. Two crew members who had signed up to do the whole race left Unicef after leg two, saying they were unhappy with the number of problems with the boat that needed attention.
But there were also problems with the Clipper 70s from the outset. Clipper Ventures first discovered an issue in 2013, when the new hulls were shipped to the UK from China. There were gaps in the layers of fibreglass-type material, which could “make the boat more prone to cracks in extreme seas”, a marine surveyor told me.
Clipper had the entire fleet surveyed in February and March 2013. They had the “bad parts” cut out of the new boats and relaminated, according to Knox-Johnston. Not an easy job, given the scale of the problem, or the time frame in which repairs had to be done. The 2013-14 race was due to start in just over six months’ time. It couldn’t be delayed. Sponsors were signed up, the jamboree of corporate backers, supporters and families was already planned in each port.
Crew members later expressed concerns that there were too many problems to fix in the short time before departure. Garmin crew member Kira Pecherska, an experienced and highly qualified sailor, said there was no time for proper sea trials. “If you send a boat on a transatlantic journey, especially with beginners on board, who have no experience in sailing at all, at least these boats must be trusted. And you can only trust your boat when you test it.” (Clipper Ventures said: “Clipper Race yachts are well built, well tested and maintained by a dedicated and highly skilled maintenance team who travel to every port of call on the race route.”)
The source who works at Clipper Ventures told me there was anxiety about reporting problems: “There is a fear culture, that prevents a lot of that. They [skippers] are thinking, I’m going to get crucified for letting that happen.”
So yeah. IMO a pretty clear case of negligence leading to tragedy.
The Guardian has a paywall? AFAIK you just have to click "I'll do it later" to keep reading after the registration nag screen. I've never encountered an actual paywall on any of their articles.
The Guardian has a paywall? AFAIK you just have to click "I'll do it later" to keep reading after the registration nag screen. I've never encountered an actual paywall on any of their articles.
That's probably my bad for jumping the gun. My paywall bypass script popped up to do it's thing and I just didn't bother to actually remember if Guardian had a one. Although I suppose that would...
That's probably my bad for jumping the gun. My paywall bypass script popped up to do it's thing and I just didn't bother to actually remember if Guardian had a one. Although I suppose that would be a paywall.soft tag...
No worries. That's not a soft paywall though. It's just an account registration nag screen. If you register you will never see it again. You don't have to pay, it's just requires an email address,...
No worries. That's not a soft paywall though. It's just an account registration nag screen. If you register you will never see it again. You don't have to pay, it's just requires an email address, or you can use your google or apple account.
Is this really a tragedy?
I’m into adventure sports, although I haven’t had an opportunity to sail in a while and have toned it down due to fatherhood. But The real risk of real death is part of the draw. And quit frankly, once my responsibilities to my kids and community are fulfilled, I can’t think of a better way to go than adventuring.
Did you actually read the article? This wasn’t just an ordinary sailing accident. The company behind this event specifically lobbied to loosen safety regulations so they only needed to provide one fully-trained, professional crewmember per vessel. They also allowed too many inexperienced sailors on each vessel which lead to the few capable ones having to take on all the responsibilities during storms, and other crises, causing them to become exhausted during the long and more treacherous sections of the route. All of this is what lead to the death. So yeah, I would call that tragic… and also severely negligent on the part of the company and its CEO.
I didn’t read tfa, but I still stand by what I said. If the company made wild representations about the safety of the trip to the grossly inexperienced, any death among them would be seriously problematic, and also, yes, tragic.
But the summary suggests he was experienced. Challenge events like this have qualifying criteria required before participating. Again, if this one did not and you had true lubbers on board, we’re looking at something really bad. But I find it highly unlikely that even the inexperienced crew were so green they had not been on serious voyages previously and were aware of the risk of death. Even ordinary runs across predicted calm seas can end in entire veteran crews lost at sea. Experienced sailors take their craft very seriously. There might be wildcards, but very few would embark on this kind of voyage with a crew they didn’t think could handle the worst seas at least long enough to be rescued.
And this is what makes a regatta exciting, and a successful voyage satisfying.
This was not a pleasure cruise, this was an elite competition.[see edit below]I’ll repeat, too, this is one way i would want to go, testing myself against the elements. I’ve broken bones and earned plenty scars, I’m better for the experiences. I take small risks until my kids are grown and educated. But after that, I’m signing up.
Edit:
Ok this is totally not cool, and I’m surprised at the veterans’ willingness to participate. I do not like this timeline.
To anyone who happens to be contemplating this sort of thing-if you are going to do a challenge event, be willing to suffer permanent disability or death.
Prime example of why it's best to actually read the article before commenting. ;)
And keep in mind that 40% figure is what the company says, but a participant who left after one particularly grueling leg suggested otherwise.
And then there was also all the poor condition of the boats, and all the safety issues that caused.
So yeah. IMO a pretty clear case of negligence leading to tragedy.
The Guardian has a paywall? AFAIK you just have to click "I'll do it later" to keep reading after the registration nag screen. I've never encountered an actual paywall on any of their articles.
That's probably my bad for jumping the gun. My paywall bypass script popped up to do it's thing and I just didn't bother to actually remember if Guardian had a one. Although I suppose that would be a paywall.soft tag...
No worries. That's not a soft paywall though. It's just an account registration nag screen. If you register you will never see it again. You don't have to pay, it's just requires an email address, or you can use your google or apple account.