Young sailor killed driving tender into anchored yacht
by Sail-World Cruising on 10 Nov 2010
Yacht Burrasca - crew member dead after driving a tender into an anchored yacht SW
A young British sailor has lost his life by colliding with an anchored yacht in the Port of Monaco.
William Black, a crew member on the 56 metre ketch Burrasca, was driving his tender at 10.20pm and collided with an unmanned, anchored yacht, only illuminated by the regulation anchor light at the top of the mast.
It is believed Will was thrown from the boat, but an official search was called off and his body has not been found.
The grieving family of the sailor are calling for more regulations to stop similar incidents happening again. It is true that many cruising sailors have an additional light on their stern at a low level to enable other craft to see them more easily, but the onus is on the moving boat.
There is no information as to the speed that the tender was doing when it collided with the stationary yacht.
Will, who started studying for his Yachtmasters at the age of 20, started crewing in August 2006, aboard SY Parsifal III for one-and-a-half years, followed by time on M/Y A and M/Y Absinthe, shipyard time for Parvati in La Ciotat and various deliveries. He joined the Burrasca crew in July this year.
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