Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

JI was a New Jersey building contractor who looked forward to spending some of his time each year fishing in the high stakes sail-fishing and marlin tournaments held on the East Coast of North, Central, and South America. He also liked to gamble a bit and bet in the private wagers among boat owners called "the Calcuttas." Consequently he had a beautiful sport fishing boat built, spending over $2.5 million on a custom designed yacht with the latest in hull designs. It was built by one of the exclusive yacht builders in the U.S. (naming the designer would, in boating circles, disclose who the owner was, so you'll just have to guess). The boat was light, fast, and new when it pulled into a Florida marina to have the props changed out.

The sport fishing yacht was positioning between the straps and being lifted from the water by a straddle carrier, when the gear teeth on one of reduction gears which connects the motors to the drums sheared off. Instead of dropping the boat into the water, since only one side broke it dropped it onto the concrete corner of the graving dock. The impact sent shock waves through the hull, causing internal core breaks at a number of locations, far away from the initial point of impact. A salvor was hired to raise the now sinking sport fishing yacht. A couple of days later, while trying to pick the water-logged boat up with another crane, the crane's wire cable broke, dropping the boat a second time.