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New 125 Westport hits dock.

Discussion in 'Westport Yacht' started by Capt Ralph, Oct 9, 2019.

  1. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Auto Idle..?
    Must be nice.
    On the old analog jets we had auto nothing and not really good old days, planes crashed as much or more than now. (Concord crash, FE shut down an engine without being told to do, everybody died.)
    Perhaps Auto Idle would have helped..
    As for the Westport crunching half a marina: Loss of control, where is the Big Red Handle at all stations that will shut down runaway engines?
  2. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    So... you ve docked the boat from an aft deck or wing station, lines are secured, do you really go back right away to the pilothouse to shut down the mains? Sometimes yes but not always. Sometimes you may want to let the engines idle a few minutes to cool them down.

    If the control system goes haywire, it maybe a few seconds till you can shut down if you re away. Tricky
  3. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    That boat takes off like a shot and is accelerating , IMMO. That doesn't look like idle rpm to me. Shouldn't somebody hear those motors spooling up? Looks as though the starboard engine had more power. or the rudder was over? Not much time to react that's for sure unless you were right next to a set of controls.
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2019
  4. FlyingGolfer

    FlyingGolfer Member

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    The results of the investigation will maybe change some operating protocols.
  5. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    It's a long walk/run from the outside deck of a 125' to the helm area in a situation like this. A lot of times it takes 30-60 seconds to figure out what IS going on and then deciding how to react to it.
  6. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    Agree. unless somebody was right at the control, little chance....
  7. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Look at the fly bridge. Somebody was at the controls. Flung backwards as the ship sped up.
  8. captainwjm

    captainwjm Senior member

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    Being on the flybridge does not equal being at the controls. What station was active: bridge, helm, port, starboard, er? In the Below Deck situation (again, I know, I know) operation was from the er, then upon an ordered transfer to the helm the gears engaged before control was established at the helm. So, for a brief time, no station had operational control. Clearly a malfunction, not clearly an identifiable human error.
  9. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    The shadow I can see was at the bridge controls. No, who knows what controls were active. Although, It just takes a push of a button and your in control.
    A clutch and throttle are going to engage by them self? You can clearly see this?
    Let me get my boots on. This logic is getting way to thick on this thread.

    Fail-Safe default for electric/electronic engine control is idle. I assume clutch Fail-Safe is idle and neutral.
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2019
  10. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Next good question; When or Will the investigation results be released?
    Although foreign, never read any results on that yacht that T boned that docked snailbote a couple of months ago.
  11. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    There likely is nothing to release. The cause is known, just not known by anyone here. The responsibility has been accepted. I don't expect any public information to surface.
  12. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    If it was an equipment malfunction I would hope that someone lets that be known to prevent further incidents - human error I don't care so much, but curious.
  13. Scott W

    Scott W Senior Member

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    I don't know how the law works in Washington State, but the three states I'm most familiar with all have requirements to notify local authorities when involved in a boating accident. A couple of the states have minimum thresholds for reporting, like injury, death or damage over $500. But, at least one of the states requires a report irrespective of damage or injury. Those reports, of course, are all public information.

    Surely, because of the significance of the damage here, somebody is investigating, either the Coast Guard, DNR or Local Sheriff if not all three. That information will becomes public, at some point.
  14. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Local authorities were notified and were involved from the outset. I may be surprised, but expect their report will have the basic information we already know, not a detailed investigation as to why. Just the what.
  15. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    One aspect that hasn't been discussed:
    Seeing that this marina is in the factories close vicinity, was this new 125 going out for builders trials or had the new owner taken delivery? If she was going on builders trials than a VERY experienced Westport team of techs and company Capt. were aboard and were very familiar with the systems aboard. Had they finished fueling and were getting ready for departure? This certainly could be something as simple as a deckhand dragging a fender fwd. and bumped a control lever on a wing station or better yet, and one that seems to happen frequently on yachts is when the Capt. leaves a weather or wing station active and a deckie places a cover or stows the control station while active and off to the races she goes....
  16. d_meister

    d_meister Senior Member

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    The news article stated that the yacht was on it's way to Fort Lauderdale and owned by Westport. Have to wonder if it was going to Victoria/Nanaimo to be loaded for transport to arrive at the FLIBS?
  17. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    The owner had not taken delivery. There was a Westport crew of 6. The boat was scheduled to leave Port Angeles within a few days. Holli points out just one more possibility. I think assuming any specific cause at this point is ill advised.
  18. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    "The unnamed yacht was under contract to sell and was in the process of fueling for transit to Fort Lauderdale"
  19. d_meister

    d_meister Senior Member

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    Maybe from different articles? From the link in post #1, Peninsula Daily News:
    "The 125-foot yacht was owned by Westport and was getting set to travel Thursday to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for delivery to its new owner, said John Nutter, Port director of properties, marinas and airports."
    Just idle speculation, on my part, since I've loaded yachts on ships in both Victoria and Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. Victoria, Canada, is just across the Straits from Port Angeles.
  20. Prospective

    Prospective Senior Member

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    YouTuber I follow just released this weeks video. He was there and has first hand video of the event. Here's the link