windermere submarine yacht

Superyacht sinks latest: Mother of crew survivor speaks out; CCTV captures yacht seconds before it sinks

The search for six people missing after a superyacht sank in a tornado off Sicily continues. Listen to a Daily podcast special as you scroll - as our correspondents and guests examine why the disaster happened.

Tuesday 20 August 2024 22:53, UK

• Superyacht sinking
• Search for survivors after superyacht disaster in 'critical 24 hours'
• Six missing - including tech boss, Morgan Stanley executive and top lawyer
• Crew survivor 'spared by grace of God' - as staff named
• Captain speaks out for first time
• Divers limited to 10 minutes underwater struggle to access cabins
• Watch: CCTV captures yacht seconds before it sinks
• Explained: What causes waterspouts? | Inside the superyacht
• Listen to the Daily podcast above and tap here to follow wherever you get your podcasts

We're pausing our coverage for tonight but here is a recap of what we know:

• Six people are still missing after the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht, with rescue teams searching off the Sicilian coast for survivors;
• The Italian coastguard confirmed that the body found after the yacht sank yesterday is that of chef Recaldo Thomas;
• The coastguard also named more survivors - Leah Randall, Katja Chicken and Leo Eppel;
• An engineer who led the salvage operation for the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia said rescue divers have entered a "critical" 24 hours; 
• The captain of Bayesian spoke for the first time, saying: "We didn't see it coming" in reference to the storm that sank the boat.

Images are emerging of emergency crews working near the site where the yacht sank in Porticello.

Search and rescue efforts by sea and air have so far delivered no results and experts have said we are in a "critical" 24 hours.

Bayesian was moored around half-a-mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank at around 5am local time yesterday.

A friend of Recaldo Thomas, the chef who was killed as the yacht sank, has described him as a "calm spirit" who had a "smile that lit up the room".

Gareth Williams, who grew up with Mr Thomas in Antigua, told the BBC : "I can talk for everyone that knew him when I say he was a well-loved, kind human being with a calm spirit.

"He would come over to mine over the weekend and he would sing. He had the deepest, most sultry voice in the world, and a smile that lit up the room.

"He told me just the other day that he needed to work two more seasons to fix up his late parents' house. He loved yachting, but he was tired."

Mr Thomas was also a Canadian citizen. The country's foreign ministry said it was "aware of reports that a Canadian citizen has died" and that consular officials were in contact with local authorities.

Mike Lynch "lost the last 12 years fighting a ridiculous case", his co-founder has told Sky News.

David Tabizel, who founded the software company Autonomy with Mr Lynch - the sale of which became the subject of the US fraud case - said he was a "legend" and that he had a "very soft spot for him".

"I'm just heartbroken for him and his family and I hope there's a miracle about to occur," he said.

Mr Tabizel said Mr Lynch's "resilience" and "importance to British economy cannot be overstated". 

"Now he has passed through this great trauma we were hoping he would lead a new national revolution to help Britain out of its current moribund state," he said.

"If anyone has the resilience to survive this - he does. And I hope he's found an air pocket."

Mr Tabizel added: "He has been one of the most influential, intelligent and most honourable human beings I have ever had the honour of knowing."

Mr Lynch sold Autonomy to US computing giant Hewlett-Packard for $11bn (£8.6bn).

He was accused of conspiracy and attempted fraud over the sale to HP and an intense, multiyear legal battle in the US ensued.

He was acquitted of multiple fraud charges in June after more than a year under house arrest.

CCTV footage showing the yacht moments before it sank has been released.

We reported on separate footage earlier, shot from a villa 200m away from the site of the disaster in Porticello.

The owner of the villa told outlet Giornale Di Sicilia the shots showed the boat sinking in 60 seconds: "You can clearly see what is happening. There was nothing that could be done for the vessel. It disappeared in a very short time."

Experts have said we're in a critical 24 hours in the search for survivors.

Earlier, Nick Sloane, who led the salvage operation for the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia, said survivors might be trapped in air pockets, but that time was running out to save them (see post at 12.50pm).

Now Dr Jean-Baptiste Souppez, senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at Aston University, has said the speed at which the vessel sank (a few minutes, according to accounts) and the fact that it remains intact "could favour the formation of small air pockets inside".

While the formation is "highly speculative", he says, there are records of survivors found in such pockets.

"A sign the rescuers may be looking for is a banging noise at regular intervals: this is common practice on submarines, and was one of the signs the search mission for the Titan submarine was looking for after it went missing last year," he says.

"But whether air pockets formed on the Bayesian is simply impossible to predict."

There is a "big question mark" over how the superyacht sunk, the editor-in-chief of BOAT International has told Sky News.

Stewart Campbell said "nothing like this had happened before" in his recollection.

"These boats are built extremely tough. They are built to take on the biggest seas the ocean can throw at them," he said.

"Big volume aluminium boats are very capable. So the fact that a boat like Bayesian can sink in a storm like this is incredibly surprising."

He said even if a ship like this was knocked down "it should be been able to right itself".

"Even if the boat had been dismasted, theoretically the boat should have been even more stable as it would have meant less weight and the keel would then have anchored the boat more firmly in the sea.

"There are lots of questions to be answered.

"At the moment from my point of view and from the people I have spoken to, including captains of similar boats, there is a big question mark over how this happened."

The action of the boat when it was struck by the storm "would have been incredibly violent" and "it should have woken everybody up".

"The crew would have sprung into action and tried to get everyone into life rafts if they thought the boat was in danger," he said.

"We just don't know what situation the boat was in when this storm struck."

The life raft on which survivors are understood to have escaped the sinking yacht has been pictured in the harbour at Porticello in Sicily. 

Earlier, Karsten Borner, the captain of a boat that came to their aide, described how he and his crew found the raft with 15 survivors inside and brought them to his ship until help arrived.

He described the situation as "awful and traumatic" for those involved - you can read his comments in full in our post at 10.55am.

Why did the yacht sink? What is happening with the investigation? Who is missing - and why are conspiracy theories already brewing?

Our correspondent Ashna Hurynag, who is at the scene in Sicily, and Danny Fortson, West Coast correspondent for The Sunday Times, who interviewed missing Mike Lynch only weeks ago, answer these questions on today's episode of the Daily podcast, with host Niall Paterson.

You can listen above - and  tap here  to follow wherever you get your podcasts.

 The mother of one of the survivors has said she is "beyond relieved" her daughter's life was spared.

Heidi Randall, the mother of crew member Leah Randall, told Sky News: "I'm beyond relieved that my daughter's life was spared by the grace of God. 

"It doesn't make it any easier living with the heartache of those who have lost their lives or are missing. 

"My very deepest condolences to the chef's family as they formed a great friendship."

Leah Randall, from South Africa, was photographed leaving the coastguard headquarters yesterday, alongside Katja Chicken, her fellow crew member.

The Italian coastguard has also confirmed the name of another crew member.

Leo Eppel was also working on the yacht, spokesman Vincenzo Zagarola said.

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Yacht rescue teams ‘could be listening for timed banging noise’ from vessel

R escue teams trying to access the yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily could be listening out for a timed banging noise, an expert has said.

A maritime diving and wreckage expert also warned the teams would face “a big choice” between salvaging the wreck or rescuing bodies as their efforts intensify.

Bayesian was moored around half a mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank at about 5am local time on Monday as the area was hit by a storm.

The Italian Coastguard has not ruled out the possibility that those missing, including technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, may still be alive, with experts speculating air pockets could have formed as the yacht sank.

The vessel is now resting on the seabed off the coast at a depth of 50 metres, with rescue divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts.

Italy’s fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said it was developing a plan to enter the wreckage of Bayesian but that the operation was “complex”.

Dr Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a senior lecturer of mechanical, biomedical and design engineering at Birmingham’s Aston University, said the next 24 hours were “crucial” to find survivors trapped inside the wreck.

“Superyachts such as the Bayesian are designed according to regulations that impose watertight subdivisions,” he said.

“The speed at which the vessel sank (a few minutes, according to survivor and witness accounts) and the fact that it remains intact and on its side could favour the formation of small air pockets inside.

“This is obviously highly speculative and impossible to predict accurately.”

Dr Souppez cited examples of survivors being found in such air pockets including the case of a man who survived after being trapped for three days.

He said: “A sign the rescuers may be looking for is a banging noise at regular intervals.

“This is common practice on submarines and was one of the signs the search mission for the Titan submarine was looking for after it went missing last year.

“But whether air pockets formed on the Bayesian is simply impossible to predict.”

Speaking to BBC News about what caused the sinking, Dr Souppez said: “We now have reports from the divers that the vessel is pretty much intact so that very much hints at extreme winds on a rather large-sized rig, causing the vessel to keel over and then most likely start taking on water, which would then lead to a very fast sinking.”

He said the yacht could tilt further than 90 degrees into the water in very strong winds, causing it to take on “very large amounts of water through a number of the openings”.

Bertrand Sciboz, a maritime diving and wreckage expert at French company Ceres, told BBC News: “I think 50 metres is a limit to dive with a certain category of professional divers, so you will need to dive with some kind of helmet and pipe and [be] connected to the surface for oxygen, and also for speaking and hearing and telling what you see and do.

“It’s always very difficult, and especially with a sailing vessel, because you’ve got rope everywhere, you’ve got a sail which is floating in the current because we are in the Mediterranean Sea and not in the English Channel.

“But the main thing, you know, it’s the fact that in those kind of conditions, it’s very hard to go inside the wreck, and they will have to have to make a big choice at one moment, of salvaging the whole wreck or rescuing the bodies.”

Historic yacht pieced together for more than $2 million after capsizing

Pinned to the rocks, listing in the current, the stately yacht appeared doomed. John Jacobi and his guests had been carried to safety by a passing boat. The skipper remained on board as water surged through the hull. Only the shoal off the San Juan Islands kept the boat from disappearing under the waves.

It seemed an ignominious end last summer for the 100-foot Malibu, once a trophy to wealth that had become a cherished relic of Northwest boating since its christening in 1926.

And worse, it happened on a clear day — not the victim of a mercurial ocean but of bungled navigation.

"It's one of the last of its kind," said Jacobi, the 62-year-old founder and chairman of Windermere Services, the umbrella company for Windermere Real Estate franchises, and the company that owns the yacht.

One year, thousands of work hours, several insurance disputes and a handful of dockside rumors later, the historic yacht is back in the water and nearly fully restored. The final repair tally is expected to reach $2.4 million, Jacobi says. That's about twice what his company paid for the yacht three years ago.

The boat's insurer, which declared it a total loss and wanted to sell it for salvage, is picking up roughly half the tab. The rest will come from Windermere, which uses the boat mainly as a fund-raising tool for the Windermere Foundation, a separate nonprofit that benefits homeless and low-income families. None of the repair money will come from the foundation, Jacobi said.

Jacobi says he prefers to think of himself not as the Malibu's owner but its steward. And although he admits he thought long and hard about the costs of restoring it, he said he was determined, especially because the Malibu was nearly lost under his watch.

It's unlikely Jacobi will ever be able to sell the boat for what he's put into it. "We made a conscious decision with our company and our family to go ahead with it," he said.

"It's not an investment. It's more about preserving the boat for the enjoyment of the community."

Designed by noted local naval architect Ted Geary, who created sailboats and yachts for some of the West Coast's wealthiest, the Malibu is known for its elegant lines and rounded stern, called a fantail. It was built on Lake Union by the Blanchard Boat, regarded for 60 years as one of the finest wooden-boat builders on the West Coast before it closed in 1969.

As rich as the Malibu's lineage is its lore. It was built for the Rindge family, whose property holdings included half of what is now Malibu, Calif. During World War II, the Navy commissioned the yacht to patrol the California coast, according to research by past and present owners. The boat was painted gray, twin machine guns were mounted on the decks, and a crew once reportedly dropped a 400-pound depth charge over a passing Japanese submarine.

The boat was restored to its original condition after the war, and over the years it played host to celebrities, notably Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews.

One legend, true or not, says it was once raided by pirates off Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

The Malibu is the largest Blanchard-built motor yacht remaining, said Stephen Wilen, a local boat historian.

So the decision to rebuild the Malibu was praised by the local boating community.

"These old boats, the classics, are getting scarcer and scarcer," said Steve Hansen, a wooden-boat broker and owner of Hansen Yachts in Seattle. "So when someone does this, it's special."

The boating community wasn't quite as kind last July, when the boat capsized on the rocky shoal off the San Juan Islands. The accident happened in a well-charted hazard area near Wasp Island.

Rumors flew that the new skipper was from California and unfamiliar with local waters. In fact, he had grown up in the area and knew them well, Jacobi said. Other false rumors had Jacobi himself at the helm.

Talk also spread that Jacobi was balking at repair costs and that the boat might end up as scrap.

Jacobi wrote a letter to fellow Seattle Yacht Club members to quell the buzz.

"The boat had been a fixture at the yacht club for many years, and I thought it was important to set the record straight," he said.

Jacobi said the captain, who came highly recommended, was trying to avoid some fishing boats when he veered into the dangerous passage. One of the passengers, Bellingham attorney Jack Ludwigson, was familiar with the treacherous waters and warned Jacobi.

Jacobi questioned the captain.

"He told me he thought he could squeeze through," Jacobi said.

Seconds later, the boat "just made this awful, grinding noise that boats make when they hit rocks," Ludwigson recalled.

Within minutes the interior was flooded, and the boat tilted sharply to port. The six passengers and three crew members, all uninjured, donned life vests. They tried to escape on the shore boat, but it was jammed in place. The passengers gathered on the starboard hull, now jutting into the air, and waited until a passing boat picked them up about 15 minutes later.

"It was a frightening experience," Jacobi recalled.

The captain, who is no longer with the boat, spent the night on board until salvage crews could arrive.

"He apologized profusely," said Jacobi, adding that he was never angry. "The guy made a mistake."

The yacht stayed on the rocks another day before the Manson Construction Company arrived with a barge and crane and hauled it back to Seattle.

The Malibu was placed on blocks at Foss Shipyard on Lake Union, where shipwrights surveyed the damage. The rocks had ripped a hole the size of a bathtub through the 2-1/2-inch-thick wooden hull on the starboard side. They had whittled away chunks of the keel and bow, and pressed in another 2-foot section of the hull on the port side.

But for the shipwrights, working on the historic wooden boat was a rare opportunity.

"It's getting to be a lost craft," said Lou Schaefer, who oversaw the project for Foss, whose parent company once owned the Malibu.

Painstakingly, a team carved new framing beams from old-growth fir. More than 100 planks, each 2-1/2 inches thick, were steamed and contoured to the frame, becoming stiff as they cooled. The old caulking, along every seam in the hull, was removed and replaced with cotton and oakum, treated hemp fiber.

The twin diesel engines had to be rebuilt. And every electrical system was replaced, including hundreds of yards of wiring.

Removing the planks, the shipwrights found and fixed rotted timber and other damage. Without the accident, it may never have been discovered.

"I would say Windermere has added, conservatively, 60 years of life to this boat," said Greg Gustafson, who is leading the restoration project on the Windermere side.

Jacobi, meanwhile, said he winced at the rising costs. But, nonetheless, he battled to keep the boat's insurers from selling it for salvage.

"I was galled," Jacobi said, "because I knew it wouldn't be put back together."

He also hired a new captain, Stephen Gordon, an experienced skipper who has admired the boat since childhood.

"I think she's beautiful," said Gordon, 55. "I'm looking forward to cruising her and seeing how she handles."

Finally, in May, the boat was lowered into the water for final repairs. Immediately, water burst in steady streams through seams in the crew quarters and the engine room. Windermere braced for more costs. But within days, the planks expanded naturally and sealed the leaks.

"We all breathed a sigh of relief, because nobody wanted to haul the boat back out of the water," Gustafson said.

The Malibu, which already has gone on a limited test run in Lake Washington, is expected to be fully refurbished by August.

And Jacobi has something brazen in mind for the first voyage: a return trip past the rocks of the San Juans.

"I want to thumb our noses at them," he said. "Actually, I'm planning to do more than thumb my nose."

Ray Rivera: 206-464-2926 or [email protected]

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How did divers manage to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline? We went down to the spot to find out

German network ard chartered yacht and divers to see how sabotage occurred.

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It was an event that rocked Europe and shook world affairs. 

Early in the morning on Sept. 26, 2022, a series of powerful undersea explosions damaged pipelines under the Baltic Sea near Denmark that carried Russian natural gas to Germany. 

Fingers were immediately pointed at Ukraine, which had been at war with Russia since the latter invaded in February of that year. Ukraine denied involvement, and in the absence of reliable information, conspiracy theories proliferated about who attacked the Nord Stream pipeline.

Did a Russian submarine intentionally destroy it in order to cut off the gas supply to Germany, a country allied with Ukraine? Was it the CIA, as famed U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote? 

The German government has been tightlipped about the affair for two years, but this week, German media outlets ARD, Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit jointly reported that federal prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian man. A Polish government spokesperson confirmed it.

The German reports identified the man as Volodymyr Z., a diving instructor who last resided in Poland. In a brief telephone conversation on Tuesday with reporters from ARD, Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit, Volodymyr Z. expressed surprise at the accusations and denied involvement.

A report this week by the Wall Street Journal also pointed to Ukraine, suggesting the operation was carried out by Ukrainian soldiers and civilians with diving expertise and under the direction of Ukraine's then-commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Journalists at ARD, Germany's public broadcaster, have been hot on the trail since the shocking explosions took place. I was one of the reporters who was part of the team that spent months piecing together what may have occurred. 

To understand what happened to the Nord Stream pipeline that day, ARD chartered the very yacht the perpetrators allegedly used and sent divers into the roiling waters of the Baltic Sea to see how the pipeline might have been attacked.

Group chartered sailing yacht

Several outlets have reported that in early September 2022, a sailing yacht called Andromeda set sail from the port of Hohe Düne in Rostock, Germany. According to the ARD investigation, the commando that was to destroy the pipelines was on board the Andromeda. The group is said to have consisted of six people — five men and one woman. Among them, it is suspected, was Volodymyr Z.

After stops in Rügen, Bornholm and Christiansø in Denmark, Sandhamn in Sweden and Kołobrzeg in Poland, the boat returned to Rostock. 

At some point during the trip, investigators believe the crew dove from the yacht down to the seabed and, in the darkness of the Baltic Sea, attached the explosive devices to the pipeline at a depth of around 80 metres. 

What happened later is well-known. At 2:03 a.m. local time on Sept. 26, 2022, the first explosion damaged Nord Stream 2. Approximately 16 hours later, three other explosions damaged Nord Stream 1. Investigators later found residue of the explosive HMX, also known as octogen, on board the Andromeda.

• Germany issued arrest warrant for Ukrainian diver in Nord Stream pipeline attack
• Denmark, like Sweden before them, ends probe into Nord Stream pipeline 'sabotage'

During our investigation, we wondered just how hard it would have been to carry out such a mission. 

The Andromeda is a charter yacht. Anyone can rent it — so we rented it, too, and took three divers with us.  

As with many charter yachts, the Andromeda was not in the best condition — our skipper called it "one of the worst boats I've ever sailed with." 

He said several electrical components were broken and that the yacht didn't move well in the waves. Then there was the swim platform, which the divers would need to get on and off the boat. If the swell is high, the platform moves up and down, punching into the sea. A diver trying to get back on the boat could be slammed on the head by the platform, causing serious injury. For us, this risk was too high. 

So we returned the Andromeda and chartered a professional diving vessel with a crew that usually recovers Second World War explosives from the bed of the Baltic Sea. 

We then drove to the exact spot where the first explosion happened — 120 kilometres off the German coast, with the Danish island Bornholm in sight.

Trained divers required

We arrived at 6 a.m. to witness a symbolic moment in the Baltic Sea. 

A Russian military ship appeared. Through our radio, we heard, "Russian warship delta echo, U.S. warship Yankee." The U.S. Navy was trying to make contact with the Russian Navy right before our eyes. How could a sabotage operation have gone on undetected in this environment?

The burst pipeline lay almost 80 metres beneath us, a depth not every diver could handle. 

You need to be trained as a tech diver. At that depth, you have to breathe a special mixture of oxygen, helium and nitrogen, and that means carrying about 220 pounds of equipment. 

It is also pitch black at the bottom of the sea. The multiple scuba tanks gave the divers about 40 minutes to find the pipeline, which means they needed to know precisely where to look. A sonar device was required to locate the pipeline beforehand. The Andromeda did not have this kind of device on board, but our new vessel did. 

Our tech divers found the burst pipeline on their second try and filmed it. 

The difficult part for the divers was returning to the surface. The pressure is so intense that if the ascent is not done correctly, divers could experience serious symptoms like paralysis or damage to their lungs. Doing proper decompression from such a depth — which requires divers to switch to a different gas mix — takes about two hours. 

Conducting a complex mission like that from the Andromeda would have been difficult and dangerous. According to the German investigation, it's plausible Volodymyr Z. was trained for dives like that.

Everyone who has examined the Andromeda agrees it's not the vessel anyone would choose to secure a mission. 

As our tech diver Derk Remmers put it: "I would use the Andromeda for a vacation, but not a sabotage mission."

Yet this could be precisely why the saboteurs used it. To stay undetected and unaccountable — which they managed to do until the charges were made public this week.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lea Struckmeier is an investigative journalist and presenter at ARD, Germany's public broadcaster. She is currently spending her Arthur F. Burns Fellowship with CBC.

Related Stories

Windermere Lake Cruises unearths submarine cruise images from the archives

Published: 12th February 2021

Fascinating photographs have been unearthed by Windermere Lake Cruises, from an era when there was just as much of an appetite to enjoy views from below the lake’s surface as there was to enjoy the views from above it.

While England’s longest lake is best known for its stunning scenic views of the surrounding fells and wooded shoreline, the late 1990s also gave visitors the opportunity to dive to the lake’s bed, where the submarine would settle for around 10 minutes before continuing to explore the depths.

Positioned around ten minutes out from Windermere Lake Cruises’ Lakeside pier, the attraction’s vessel ‘Sunflower’ was used to transfer more than 3,500 visitors to the sub’ from ashore in its first season alone.

Windermere Lake Cruises’ archivist, skipper and author Rob Beale, says, “Launched in 1997 and owned by Paul and Jane Whitfield, the ‘Windermere’ could carry ten passengers per dive. Piloted by Alan Whitfield, the sub’ was equipped with sonar equipment, cameras and scientific instrumentation which he hoped would help to locate unusual sights following numerous tales of sunken wrecks.

“Windermere was 28 feet long, with enough oxygen on board to keep ten people alive for 96 hours or 44 days for a single individual.

“The fare for an hour-long cruise was £49.50 and dives commenced in August 1997. A small wreck was soon located close to Lakeside which became a focal point for the cruise, which often went up the lakes as far as the YMCA .”

Windermere Lake Cruises’ John Woodburn (pictured leaning over the bow of the submarine), reminisces, “I dived to the bottom of the lake with Alan at least twice. He was so patriotic, he stood to attention on the submarine awaiting the passengers in a blue boiler suit with the union flag emblazoned thereon. I always felt that I should salute him when boarding the sub.”

📷: Interior of the submarine on Lake Windermere

Although popular, the venture ceased after the 1998 season as the company had only one pilot and the cruise rarely sailed at its advertised capacity. It has also explored wrecks in Mauritius and now operates in Barbados.

Many thanks to Robert Beale for his help in researching this article.

VIDEO : Digital imagery of the submarine canyons at the bottom of the sea floor.

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Digital imagery of the submarine canyons at the bottom of the sea floor.

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• Articles using infobox ship
• Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia
• Merchant submarines

Windermere (submarine)

The Windermere is a tourist submarine that operated on Windermere , a lake in Cumbria, England. It was delivered to the marina at Lakeside in July 1997 and began commercial operation the next month. Carrying out dives on a wreck near to the marina and also cruises further afield it carried 3,500 passengers in its first year of operations. The Windermere struggled to attract full loads of passengers in 1998, which was its last year of operation. The vessel was later operated in Mauritius and now carries out dives in Barbados.

The Windermere is a MERGO 10 submersible designed and built by Malmari & Winberg, a former subsidiary of Finnish shipbuilder Rauma-Repola . [1] The MERGO 10 vessels measured 10.05 m (33.0 ft) in length, 2.8 m (9.2 ft) in beam and 3.5 m (11 ft) in overall height. The vessels had a displacement of 24 long tons (24 t) and were capable of diving to 100 m (330 ft) depth. The MERGO 10 could carry ten passengers in addition to its pilot. [2] The Windermere had a cruising speed of 0.5 knots (0.93 km/h; 0.58 mph) and a maximum speed of 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph). As well as large underwater viewports it was equipped with video cameras and powerful lights, it also had sonar . [3] It carried enough oxygen to sustain 10 people for 96 hours. [4]

A larger vessel in the series, the MERGO 50, could carry 48 passengers in addition to its 2–4 man crew. [5] The series is now produced by the South Korean small vessel manufacturer Vogo. [2]

Operation [ ]

Lakeside, pictured in 2014

The Windermere was delivered by crane to Lakeside marina at the southern end of Windermere in July 1997. It was the first submarine to operate on the lake and was owned by Paul and Jane Whitfield who also operated a submarine at Loch Ness , Scotland. [3] The vessel carried out a 200 feet (61 m) dive on 27 July 1997 and began commercial operation in August. [4] [6]

The pilot, Alan Whitfield, wore a blue boilersuit emblazoned with a union flag and would stand to attention on deck while passengers boarded. [4] The Windermere usually operated on short trips, lasting around an hour, to a small wreck near to the marina but it also cruised as far as the YMCA hostel, around 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north of the marina. [3] [4] A typical cruise cost £49.50 and it carried 3,500 passengers in the 1997 season. [4] The venture proved unprofitable, perhaps due to competition from a newly opened underwater walkway at the nearby Aquatarium (now known as the Lakes Aquarium ). [3] [4] The Windermere rarely carried a full complement in the 1998 season, which was its last on the lake. It afterwards saw service as a tourist vessel diving on shipwrecks in Mauritius and, as of February 2021, operated in Barbados. [4]

References [ ]

• ↑ Meeting, United States-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources Panel on Marine Facilities (September 1989) (in en). Meeting of the United States-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources (UJNR) Panel on Marine Facilities . The Administration. p. 291 . https://books.google.com/books?id=lfwkAQAAIAAJ .  
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£. "MERGO 10 Tourist Submarine – VOGO" (in en) . https://www.komarine.com/vi/companies/vogo/products/121241-MERGO-10-Tourist-Submarine/ .  
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£ (14 July 1997). "Tourists plumb the depths in Lakeland" (in en). The Independent . https://www.independent.co.uk/news/tourists-plumb-the-depths-in-lakeland-1250759.html .  
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£ (9 February 2021). "Windermere submarine cruise photos discovered in archives" . Cumbria Crack . https://cumbriacrack.com/2021/02/09/windermere-submarine-cruise-photos-discovered-in-archives/ .  
• ↑ Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£. "MERGO 50 Tourist Submarine – VOGO" (in en) . https://www.komarine.com/vi/companies/vogo/products/121242-MERGO-50-Tourist-Submarine/ .  
• ↑ Fager, Mrs. Dan J. (1997) (in en). One Half Fathom . p. 84 . https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/One_Half_Fathom/6TkfAQAAIAAJ .  

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Windermere 17s: a class still sailing after 107 years

The Royal Windermere YC’s racing class was designed 107 years ago – and they’re still racing today. Taken from our August, lakes issue

There was a time when the idea of lake sailing aroused some snobbery. In the 1880s, when the then Windermere Yacht Club sought adjudication over some matter from the yacht racing association of the day, it received the dusty reply that the body in question had “no jurisdiction over duckponds”.

And when the club decided to seek a royal warrant in 1887, it was advised instead to petition for the Queen’s permission (which was granted) to use the style, as a warrant was not considered appropriate to clubs that sailed on inland waters.

Nevertheless, the club can boast, in the Windermere 17-Foot Restricted Class, one of the oldest continuously-raced classes in the country, conceived and chiefly designed in-house but with famous designers such as Alfred Mylne, Arthur Robb, David Boyd, Uffa Fox and Olin Stephens also getting involved.

It’s a vigorous class too, with new boats – designed by Ian Howlett – still being built. It was not, however, initially intended as the club’s premier class. The Royal Windermere Yacht Club celebrated its 150th anniversary last year. It’s said that in its home town of Bowness-on-Windermere only the parish church and the Royal Hotel predate it.

The club traces its foundation to a meeting of ‘like-minded gentlemen’ in Bowness on 16 January 1860, when the then Windermere Sailing Club was founded. Many of these men were wealthy industrialists and financiers who liked to spend their summer holidays in the Lakes, pursuing friendly rivalries on the water.

Regular sailing regattas had been held on the lake since around 1849, with local boatbuilders producing tall, slender, extravagantly canvassed yachts in the style of the time, and handicapping systems attempting not very successfully to regulate their performance. The perceived need for a restricted class was one impetus for the formation of the club.

‘A bold vessel of good displacement’ The first Windermere Restricted Class which eventually emerged, after seven years of deliberation, was much influenced by Jilt, a 25ft (7.6m) waterline boat, built in 1861 for one of the founding committee members, Joseph Bridston, which according to an early club history “changed the character of the Windermere racing yacht from being a little vessel of small displacement , not greatly superior to a decked-in wherry, to a bold vessel of good displacement and decent freeboard; but it did more than this, it put an end to handicap racing and eventually led to the adoption of one class, with a limited length of waterline.”

In the end, Jilt herself was deemed too large and the rule agreed in 1867 limited all new yachts to a 20ft (6.1m) waterline, 6ft 6in (2m) beam and 5ft 6in (1.7m) draught. Dixon Kemp in 1876 described them as: “Mostly distinguished for their weatherly qualities… sailed with great boldness, as owing to the great weight they have on their keels it would be impossible to capsize them.”

Initially professional helmsmen from Morecambe Bay were employed to sail the yachts but by 1870, newer, younger members wished both to avoid that expense and to test their own prowess by sailing their boats themselves. Thus for a short time two classes of races were held, with and without professional crews.

A way of flouting the 20ft rule was quickly found, by deliberately immersing the counter when heeled, which effectively increased the waterline length to 26ft (7.9m) or more. In 1880 a new class, the ‘Second Class’ with a LWL of 17ft 6in (5.3m) and more tightly controlled measurements, was introduced, and in 1884 it was followed by the ‘Second 20ft Class’, again with tighter rules, especially regarding the counter.

With an agreement not to change the measurements for at least five years, the new class was immediately popular and a total of 53 yachts were built to it over the next 12 years. Meanwhile, the unsuccessful Second Class of 1880 (only seven built) was replaced in 1887 by the cat-rigged Una Class, with a hull based on the 20ft class, but scaled down to 16ft (4.9m) LWL.

Although popular with new members and ladies, it was only permitted to race outside the regatta season of July and August. In 1897 a 22ft class was introduced, carrying the same sail area as the 20ft, but with a very different underwater profile, notably a deep-bladed keel. Although expensive, a total of 17 were built.

Controversial introduction It was the cost of the 22-footers that produced pressure for a more affordable class and this, in 1904, led to the ‘17ft Restricted Class’. Its adoption was surrounded by controversy. Percy Crossley, son of founder member Louis Crossley, the Halifax carpet manufacturer, had trained as a naval architect with Linton Hope in Southampton.

He favoured a flat-bottomed ‘skimming dish’ design, but his older cousin Herbert Crossley, who had designed many earlier Windermere yachts, opposed this and in the end carried the day. To prevent ‘skimming-dish’ designs the class rules specified a one-in-four angle between the overhang and the waterline (amended in 1906 to one-in-five and still current).

Initially the ‘Smaller Class’, as it was referred to, had an uphill struggle for recognition. The 17ft boats suffered second-class treatment, not permitted to race in the regatta season, nor to obstruct ‘First Class’ yachts, and club funds could not be used for prizes. Ignored by the club’s Sailing Committee, they had to set up their own, and raise their own subscription.

But even before the First World War, the 22ft class had dwindled and it was decided that there were too few left to race. After the war, an attempt was made to start up a 19ft class, on the grounds that the 17-footers were not sufficiently prestigious to properly represent the club.However, the larger boats were never popular, and even despite a four-year ban (1923-26) on building 17-footers, only six of the 19ft boats were ever built.

Thus by the early 1930s the 17ft class had become the undisputed premier class of the club, and has remained so ever since. Most of the boats were built by the local firm of Shepherd’s, the vast majority by local designers, mostly PC Crossley, but a few ‘guest’ designers feature in the lists. Afred Mylne and Arthur Robb each designed three; Uffa Fox designed one; David Boyd contributed five – one of which was recently used as the basis for the popular Rustler 24. Sailfish II, 1967, was based on a design study by Olin Stephens. She was the last of what came to be the ‘Classic’ 17s to be built.

Following World War II the 17-footers languished, with new-builds drying up in 1967 for 15 years, though with 20 boats, the fleet was still a viable size.

The Howlett years The revival, when it came, began in 1982 with a GRP hull, the only one ever built, called Tripple, based on Ripple II. Then, in 1982/3, Ian Howlett was commissioned to design a new 17, using cedar strip construction. His initial sketch, showing a separated keel and rudder, led the the class committee, “wisely”, he says, to tighten the rule to prevent such configurations. “Designing full keel racing yachts is quite outside the experience of most designers today,” admits Ian, “and it was with some trepidation that I awaited reports of the performance of the first of my designs, Freedom, for David McCann in 1982. Fortunately it did not disappoint.”

Twelve Howlett-designed boats have entered the fleet, with another one, Chris Ducker’s Flying Duckman, currently in build at Demon Yachts in Suffolk. His designs have developed steadily over the years, with bows have becoming fuller and of lower slope, and in recent times with owners specifying keels of minimum weight. His epoxy glass-skinned cedar-cored boats seem completely inert and, he says, should last indefinitely with minimal maintenance.

The Rule has again recently been tightened to prevent yachts more extreme than his last two hulls – Falcon II , 1993, and Fathom , 2008 – but, says Ian: “Despite these constraints the Rule is far from played out.”

One unwished-for effect of the Howlett boats was an initial decline in the racing fleet as owners of older boats became discouraged. The solution was to split the fleet by introducing a Classic class, for boats built before 1981. The two fleets race together on equal terms, but with the Classics also competing for their own points and prizes. About half the 80 W17s built are still in some sort of existence, with 25 currently capable of racing.

When I joined them for a Saturday race in June, a dozen boats took part, with more classics than moderns, and the places going mainly to the classics. Class captain Robert Hughes, who sails the 1962 Capella, confirms that that is often the case. “The classics have now been strengthened and re-rigged. They’re very competitive.”

During the race, a gaff-rigged boat briefly joined the fleet – the oldest 17 afloat, Merlin , designed by Percy Crossley and built by Shepherds in 1908.

Says Ian Howlett: “The last few years have seen more breeze on the lake and in strong breezes it is not unusual for older boats with heavier keels to show the ‘modern’ boats the way round the course – which is all very healthy for such a class. The RWYC 17ft is a yacht that fits the lake and the local conditions perfectly.”

August Classic Boat was our lakes issue. Our September issue, featuring a very frank interview with Elizabeth Meyer, queen of the J-Class, and the Mylne cutter Kelpie , is at the printers.

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What an underwater superyacht could look like

by Mariska Buitendijk | Oct 17, 2022 | News , Ship design , Shipbuilding , Submarines , Yachts

Dutch U-Boat Worx has revealed the design of a 1250-tonne, 37.5-metre yacht submarine, the Nautilus. The underwater superyacht could be built within thirty months and comes with a price tag of EU 25 million.

Since Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea came out in 1870, people have been dreaming of a luxury yacht with dive capabilities. Since then, inventors produced a lot of impressive concepts. Unfortunately, not one of these designs has ever been realised.

U-Boat Worx designs and builds small submersibles, and says it has now finally succeeded in engineering a realistic combination of luxury and safety in a fully certified private submersible.

The diesel-electric Nautilus has a depth rating of 200 metres, with a surface cruise speed of 9 knots and an underwater speed of 4 knots. Once ordered, the company can deliver a Nautilus within thirty months.

Also read: Feadship yacht equipped with private submarine of Dutch design

Yacht features

When functioning as a boat, the Nautilus offers a massive sundeck equipped with a freshwater pool, a bar, and a luxurious dining table. This al fresco arrangement is retracted before the submersible slips below sea level.

The Nautilus interior features a 50-m2 dinner and lounge area with four circular windows. Each with diameters close to 4 metres. The proposed design has a master bedroom and four staterooms, as well as sleeping quarters for up to six crew. The vessel will also be fitted with a fully equipped galley, while the interior layouts are fully customisable.

Underwater for four days

The superyacht submarine will be able to stay under water for up to four days. At cruise speed, the underwater endurance is six hours. When not in use, the Nautilus can be docked at any quay that can accommodate its 6.5-metre draugh. The Nautilus has a starting price of EUR 25 million.

A newly invented, completely pressure-resistant electrical tender is stowed under the Nautilus’ aft deck and will stay outside while diving. This tender, the Aronnax, may also be used for transporting five scuba divers underwater to the intended dive spot.

‘People that have decided to buy a yacht will now have to consider if their vessel of choice can also dive down to 200 metres,’ says U-Boat Worx Chairman and Founder Bert Houtman. As an added bonus, the Nautilus combats seasickness. Houtman: ‘If the sea becomes too rough, you simply dive and continue your voyage in comfort.’

Also read: Good times for yacht building – What Royal Huisman is up to

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Windermere 17ft Class Yachts

The 17ft Windermere Class Yachts maintain an active and competitive fleet, racing every Saturday with an average of ten or more yachts on the start line. They also hold three race weeks through the season racing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of these weeks. This Class provides some of the most exciting and competitive racing on Windermere. Do not be fooled into thinking these fantastic looking yachts, with only a main sail and jib are necessarily easy, they are challenging and rewarding to sail and there is nothing more exciting than a large fleet of these fantastic yachts, fully powered up and charging for the line just before the start gun.

The Windermere 17ft Class yachts (25ft LOA) are sailed by a crew of two. They are kept afloat on a swing mooring through the racing season. They were first raced in 1904, and the current fleet comprises of yachts aged between 8 and 90 years of age. As a Restricted Design class, all the yachts, regardless of age, are capable of winning. To make things even more interesting the fleet is split into a Modern and Classic fleet. Owners of the Classic yachts have a chance at winning two trophies in each race i.e.  first overall and first Classic yacht over the line. You can sometimes hear Class members saying, “It’s not the yacht that’s fast, it is the nut on the tiller”. As testimony to this fact, the boat winning the highest number of trophies during the 2019 season was Atholl , a yacht whose keel was laid in 1934 but still regularly beats many of the modern yachts. Racing with this fleet is so close that on many occasions it’s a photo finish between the first few yachts across the line.

If you would like to try, buy, or crew in a Windermere 17ft yacht, then please get in touch via the email  below 

[email protected]

 So that either the 17ft Fleet Captain or 17ft Fleet Secretary can get back to you.

The fleet also has a WhatsApp group where members share information, and this also assists with crewing opportunities.

There are always a select few 17ft yachts for sale at very reasonable prices, details of some can be found on the RWYC web site (see For sale ).  

Hmmm, wouldn’t it be nice to have a Windermere Class Yacht! thoughts on ownership

Or for more information please simply email  [email protected]

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Unreal experience on the lake, came with a small group of friends and Les and Julie offered a great experience and hosted us exceptionally well. Will definitely come back and have already recommended to others we know!

Les and Julie were fantastic hosts. They decorated the yacht for my wife’s birthday. We all had a go at being captain. Really enjoyed the whole experience. Les was very knowledgeable about the surrounding area.

Celebrated my dad’s 88th birthday with a 2 hour session, what a fantastic experience for the whole family. From start to finish Les & Julie looked after us all, they were so friendly and easy going and we could participate as much or as little as we liked, even my mum and dad took part in steering the boat. We ordered the sandwiches and sweet treat box which was delicious and tea and coffee were offered throughout the trip (other drinks were offered too). I would highly recommend this activity because it’s brilliant. The surprise at the end was a lovely thought and we’ll always have special memories of this occasion. Even the rain didn’t spoil our day! Thank you Les & Julie.

Les and Julie couldn’t have been more welcoming. We cruised down to the south of the lake and back up again, where the sails were finally unfurled. Our hosts were very knowledgeable and pointed out landmarks and points of interest. We had a lovely lunch with Prosecco on board and were very sorry when it all came to an end. What a wonderful experience. Highly recommended.

4 of us had a “delayed” 50th birthday celebration on the most beautiful boat with the simply wonderful Les & Julie. They were knowledgeable, likeable, considerate and welcoming – absolutely perfect hosts, really fantastic. Cannot recommend this experience enough – the weather wasn’t the best for us but it didn’t really impact on what was a fabulous day. Thank you so much Les & Julie.

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5th Moscow Boat Show, March 20-25, 2012

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Written by Zuzana Bednarova

The 5th edition of the International exhibition of yachts and boats –  Moscow Boat Show , held from March 20 to 25, 2012 will be hosted by the first pavilion of Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre. This popular show is dedicated not only to the specialists of the market segment and professional sportsmen but also to those who consider sailing sport to be their hobby and well cherished dream.

The project is the result of joint efforts of the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre and the National Marine Industry Association. The event is supported by Aston Martin Moscow, Burevestnik Group logistics department and the Yachting specialized magazine. Moscow Boat Show is the largest project in Russia presenting all the best in the world of yachting.

The exhibition annually shows high level of attendance and has already proved as significant and noteworthy event in the world of yachts and boats. Every year new exhibitors join the list of participants, genuine “sharks” of yachting business, the quantity of visitors considerably increases and the exposition becomes more sated and diverse.

The best companies professionally involved into yachting and small navigation business – 180 exhibitors from 17 regions of the Russian Federation and 15 countries traditionally presented the best and the newest in the world of yachting at 2011 edition: from design and facilitation of vessels and up to cruising and training courses for beginning skippers. In 2011 the overall exhibit space comprised 18 000 sq m. More than 25 000 visitors came to the show.

This year the exposition space will increase up to 30 000 sq m and will be accommodated in 4 exhibition halls. The scale of the project confirms confident positions of its positive development. The organizers will try to arrange a genuine fiesta of water on land!

Quite a number of foreign exhibitors will participate in the show. Foreign companies show increasing interest to yachting business in Russia.

Moscow Boat Show provides the perfect platform from which to preview new products, evaluate market trends, and establish long-lasting and commercially profitable partnerships. Despite the dynamic changes taking place in Russia and the rapid growth of the yachting sector, the show continues to complement and reflect the industry’s demand and is a promotional opportunity not to be missed!

As its popularity and success rate has grown over the last years Moscow Boat Show 2012 has developed to incorporate more than just an exhibition. These special events serve to attract leading exhibitors and visitors and allow all participants the chance to broaden their knowledge and of course their sales potential.

Moscow Boat Show helps representatives of yachting business to get acquainted with their Russian colleagues and gradually improves national yachting market to a new level. It is obvious that for 4 years of its running the project has turned to a status event of the international exhibitions calendar. The organizers of the exhibition aim to bring together on the same platform all key national and worldwide players and to offer an excellent platform to encourage networking among specialists and visitors in order to accelerate the development in this field as well as implementing new technologies, the newest equipment, materials and components.

Please contact CharterWorld - the luxury yacht charter specialist - for more on superyacht news item "5th Moscow Boat Show, March 20-25, 2012".

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