Laser run over by tour boat

Rob B

Well-Known Member
Joel Lambinus unfurled the sail on his 14-foot Laser on Sunday and then happened to glance backward.
What Lambinus saw made him leap for his life. A Fort Sumter tour boat loaded with tourists was bearing down.
"I looked over my shoulder, and I saw the boat, about 75 yards away and headed dead straight for me," said Lambinus, 57, an experienced sailor who was competing in the Charleston Yacht Club Open Regatta.
Witnesses told the Coast Guard the tour boat was the 102-foot-long, 32-foot-wide, 97-ton, Spirit of Charleston, and that the vessel was crossing an area reserved for sailboat racing. As Lambinus swam to avoid being pulled under the tour boat, it cracked and broke his sailboat, tearing chunks of it with its propeller.
Lambinus said he felt his legs bumping the hull of the tour boat, and he feared the propeller would slice him up, too.
"By the grace of God, I was able to get away," he said. "When I popped up, I realized that if I had stayed in the boat I would have been mincemeat."



http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/jul/23/tour_boat_smashes_sailboat_at_regatta11241/
 
That stinks...

Having sailed Boards on the Columbia River in and amoungst the Barges, I was always scared of them running us down... But a sailboat in a harbor should be relatively safe... Hope Doug gets a new boat and that captain is made available to another Charleston industry.. Maybe he's good a bowling.. Seriously, that guy is lucky to be alive and or not cut up..
 
To not even stop after running the boat down. There's huge issues here. That had to be on drugs, or just not qualified to run the boat.

It adds to meaning to the new/old Laser bumper sticker--

"Cheat the Nursing Home, Die on Your Laser!"

The guy who dove off his boat and swam for his life was 75.
 
It adds to meaning to the new/old Laser bumper sticker--

"Cheat the Nursing Home, Die on Your Laser!"

The guy who dove off his boat and swam for his life was 75.

Actually, only 57.

"I looked over my shoulder, and I saw the boat, about 75 yards away and headed dead straight for me," said Lambinus, 57, an experienced sailor who was competing in the Charleston Yacht Club Open Regatta.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/jul/23/tour_boat_smashes_sailboat_at_regatta11241/
 
Wow!! If somebody can get me his address, I still have a couple Cheat the nursing home ...bumper stickers.

Scares me just reading the account.

Wow!!
 
quoted from the article in The Post & Courier


"Galloway said the tour boat "came absolutely straight down the middle" of the nearly one-mile-diameter area near Castle Pinckney reserved for the weekend's races. The tour boat "never slowed down until the sailboat popped out of the back and never hailed either of us to see if the sail boater was OK," she said.


Galloway displayed copies of race permits, with restricted areas outlined, approved by the state Department of Natural Resources and the Coast Guard."




This was blatant negligence!

The captain of this boat should be arrested for attempted murder!
IMHO
 
We have had problems with this exact tour boat in Charleston for years. It was only a matter of time before this happened. Glad the guy was ok.
 
Torrid: I'll see you there. I'll be the Masters Apprentice chick from FLA in the Radial fleet. I guess this boat will be on it's best behavior next weekend since the world is watching...Captain should be relieved of duty that is crazy negligent. Wouldn't expect that behavior from professionals. Weekend spazmics maybe....
 
Something tells me that the company isn't the best either if no comment was given by anyone from there, just not the operator. Most sensible superiors would say, "We'll deal with the issue/the person immediately. This was wrong." I find it disconcerting that no one was responding at all.
 
I'd take a wild guess and say the Swimmer won't even get a new boat out of the ferry company, as that would be admitting guilt. If no criminal charges are filed, he'd have to start a Civil suit, which is an easy 100K to start.

I believe the water can't be "reserved" by CG permits. The marine event permit just creates a Notice to Mariners.

The Tour boat will claim he is a vessel "restricted in his ability to maneuver" and thus has ROW over boats under sail. Plus the race was apparently not underway yet.

I would think the CG should be investigating for a report. Video would help? Any horns from the TB? Wind speed at the time?

I'm not defending the Boat Captain, just suggesting that you/we all be careful out there! And forget about having ROW over powerboats, racing or not.

Search YouTube for Sydney Ferry/sailboat and you'll see a couple of 18's getting mushed at 35 knots.

Al
 
We all need to be aware that small sailboats are not easy to see from a commercial vessel. I'm not defending the captain by any means, just stating a fact. Don't assume "that tug" can see you, even if you are in a 30' boat. Also, don't assume that they can avoid you.

Andy
 
i commented on the actual article so i won't repeat it here, if you'd like to read my comment it is towards the bottom of the article webpage, my username there is mainelasersailor
 
Not that I am in anyway defending the tourboat operator, but all vessels have an obligation to avoid collisions. Sure sailboats have the right of way over power vessels in most circumstances, but should proving your point possibly cost your life? This is something we all need to consider, especially race comittees. I have spent a considerable amount of time in Charleston on sailing and commercial vessels and there is a propensity to put the inside race courses in deep water near the shipping channels. the race course does not have to be on the tour boat's route back and forth from the fort. I also navigate on an offshore raceboat and have had plenty of starts near shippping channels with commercial traffic coming down the course. I monitor 13 and 16 VHF while aboard and knew where i would be safe on the course. I called the RC prior to the prep. and they had no idea. US Sailing has been trying to do something about this since last year, but people really just need to give themselves a reality check. A laser is much more maneuverable than a tourboat. Your competitive spirit can get you killed.
 
Not that I am in anyway defending the tourboat operator, but all vessels have an obligation to avoid collisions.

A laser is much more maneuverable than a tourboat. Your competitive spirit can get you killed.

I guess you missed the part where the sailor had just unfurled his sail and not yet attached the clew. His was a vessel adrift. Plus, where do you think Laser sailors keep their VHF radios?
 
this was not an attempt to justify anything. I'm just pointing out that people don't always realize that just because you're on a sailing vessel other vessels will avoid you. The VHF comment goes to RC types and where they set courses. THEY should be monitoring 13 and 16. The article I read said the course was between the Chas. City Marina and the Fort. That's about 40 feet of water. Lasers need that much to sail right? there's plenty of water for everyone in that harbor. not everyone needs to occupy the same water at the same time. Like I said, I'm not faulting anyone. This was an accident. Maybe the tour boat operator was negligent. maybe Mr. Lambinus was negligent for getting underway w/o manueverability. I guess you've never been there......
 
Wow, this is a scary story! But . . .

If the Laser sailor didn't have his sail operational yet, but was out on the racecourse already, I'd suggest he must have been towed out there, and cast off the tow in a pretty precarious place.

Having raced in a lot of places with dangerous commercial and ship traffic, and now in Florida, where we set race courses near the Intercoastal, I live by the "might is right" rule for safety's sake.

Ships, and tugs with barges can't maneuver to avoid little boats. Powerboats are often going way too fast, and all too often are operated by people with more bucks than brains who (in my experience) navigate with a road map in one hand and a g & t in the other.

Still, the tour boat company and the operator should definitely be reported to the Coast Guard and I hope they throw the book at him.
 
that would be all well and good except for this:

Sylvia Galloway and Fran Trotman, who operated a safety boat at the regatta, witnessed the collision from a few hundred yards away. They said the tour boat did not stop at the scene after the collision, and its operator did not return calls until after returning from Fort Sumter to peninsular Charleston.
Galloway said the tour boat "came absolutely straight down the middle" of the nearly one-mile-diameter area near Castle Pinckney reserved for the weekend's races. The tour boat "never slowed down until the sailboat popped out of the back and never hailed either of us to see if the sail boater was OK," she said.

Galloway displayed copies of race permits, with restricted areas outlined, approved by the state Department of Natural Resources and the Coast Guard.

If the location of the accident is correct and if the story of no stopping and no hail and no radio contact for rescue is true, then the captain should have his ticket removed.

the excuse of:


"oh well I couldn't move" just doesn't hold given the story so far.
 
Word is this is going to be quite a battle in the court system. The sailor has lawyered up, (as he should have) and the tour boat company is owned by lawyers. The muckety mucks have their panties all in a twist over this thing. It's shaping up to be a precident setting case. Will be very interesting to follow and see the overall outcome. This could take years.
 
Wow, that's a scary (but unfortunatly not a surprising) story. I'll be interested to follow the court cases and see the outcome. I hope they find in favour of the sailor - it sounds as if the powerboat was majorly in the wrong.

It'd be nice if this could serve as a wake-up call to all the idiotic powerboaties out there who do stuff like this (not saying all powerboaties, just the idiotic minority).
 
Here's an update of details...

This was a large regatta. There were three courses. The permits for the regatta stated the location of each course and each course was required to be out of the shipping channels. The Sailing Instructions stated that if any sailor got in the way of a commerical vessel and recieved 5 warning horns, they would be thrown out of the regatta.

It was 10 minutes before the first warning of the first race of the day. The sailor was waiting for the start sequence and bailing out his cockpit. The tour boat left its boarding location and, instead of going to the channel, sailed directly through the course. As it approached the laser, it changed course towards the laser doing 12-15 knots. When the sailor realized what happened, he tried to tack but seeing that would not be fast enough, he jumped overboard and swam for his life. As it was, the tour boat ran over his legs as he was swimming away and destroyed the laser. The laser was 'spit' out the back of the tour boat as people onboard screamed. Only then, did the tour boat stop for a moment, then sped onward to his destination.

The sailor was picked up by a safety boat and taken to the hospital where he was treated for cuts and bruises on the legs and arms. He was also given blood tests.
 

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