Practical Boat Owner – August 2019

Dangers of tether hooks snagging

highlighted by MAIB Clipper report

The dangers of tether hooks

snagging, distorting and

failing is being highlighted by

the Marine Accident

Investigation Branch (MAIB),

which has published its report

into the death of Clipper Race

crewmember Simon Speirs.

The 60-year-old retired

solicitor died in the Southern

Ocean during Leg 3 of the

2017-18 race. He was an RYA

Coastal Skipper and was

considered by the rest of the

crew to be very safety

conscious.

The 18-month investigation

by the MAIB found Simon

was helping to change the

headsail in rough seas when

an accidental gybe caused

him to fall overboard from the

Clipper 70’s foredeck. He was

clipped on to CV30 with his

1.8m long elasticated tether.

Attempts were made to

pass him a halyard, but the

tether clip became caught on

the starboard forward

mooring cleat, resulting in it

being loaded laterally,

distorting and opening,

separating Simon from the

yacht. It took 32 minutes to

recover Simon, partly due to

multiple deck equipment

failure including a riding turn

on the mainsheet winch and

a broken block on the main

traveller.

The MAIB investigation

concluded that the combined

effect of Simon’s tether length

and the hooking point

location resulted in him being

dragged alongside the yacht,

preventing his recovery.

It also highlighted that there

were two other MOBs during

the incident. Both of them

were clipped on by their 0.9m

short tether and managed to

get back on board. Between

2013, when the Clipper 70

was introduced, and July

2018, there were at least 15

incidences of tethered MOBs.

As a result, the MAIB is

recommending to Clipper that

it reviews and updates its risk

assessments and procedures

for foredeck operations,

particularly reducing sail in

rough weather 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 Committee

(BSI) to update guidance on

the dangers of laterally

loading safety tether hooks.

The MAIB has previously

issued a Safety Bulletin which

recommended ‘that the

method used to anchor the

end of the tether to the yacht

should be arranged to ensure

that the tether hook cannot

become entangled with deck

fi ttings or other equipment’.

NEWS

Dinghy sailor Ken Fowler is a
fi fth of the way through his
Yodare challenge to sail around
every single island in England
and Wales.
The air traffi c controller has
circumnavigated 40 out of 183
islands in his RS Aero Yoda
since August 2018 including
Burgh Island, Mersea Island
and the Isle of Sheppey, where
he had to capsize to get under
a bridge. He had hoped to
complete more, but for a
shoulder injury last year.
Fowler is no stranger to
small-boat challenges, having
completed his Race to
Scotland, from Land’s End to

John o’Groats in 2017.

“This is very different from

Race to Scotland. The

challenge to sail around every

island takes a lot more research

and the weather, and especially

the tides, comes into play a lot

more. It is hard, as you travel

miles to get to an area and you

want to sail as many islands as

possible, but you always have

to weigh up the weather and

tides. It can be very frustrating”,

he explained to PBO.

Highlights so far have

included Hayling Island, which

he did during the 75th

anniversary of D Day and St

Michael’s Mount and St

Clements in Mount’s Bay,

Cornwall, where he

experienced 10ft waves.

He’s also had his frustrations,

when an attempt to sail the four

islands off Torbay ended in a

tow to Brixham after he was

becalmed for seven hours.

But Fowler is determined to

push on despite his setbacks

and one of his biggest

motivations is raising money for

Cancer Research UK and the

Oakhaven Hospice

Trust in Lymington.

He has done many

talks to sailing

clubs, and has

even inspired

Andrew Yates and

Phil Close from

Olton Mere Sailing

Club in Solihull to

cycle from Land’s End to John

o’Groats for the charities.

This summer Fowler plans to

tick off the Lake District and

Lindisfarne and the Farne

Islands. You can follow his

adventure at yodare.co.uk

Around the

183 islands

of England

and Wales

So far Ken has completed two

thirds of Cornwall’s islands,

including Godrevy

Ken Fowler

Ken Fowler

Speirs family

Simon Speirs

(centre left) was

the third person

to die in the past

two editions of

the Clipper Race

Sailing around

the Solent Forts