16/01/2012 Inside Out South East

Did the demands of a yacht delivery company lead to the loss of three

boats and the deaths of five crew? How many more families have to go

through the heartbreak? Can no more skippers have to die? -- how many

more? And as Stargazing Live returns to our screens, we find out

what we can see in the skies above Kent and Sussex. This guy is full

of stars, and each one of those stars possibly has a planetary

system around it. If you want to know how many galaxies there are in

the entire universe, there are the same sorts of numbers, two to 400

billion galaxies in the village -- visible universe. I'm Natalie

Graham with untold stories, closer to home. From all round the South

Hello, tonight we're in the castle in Herstmonceux in East Sussex, one

of the first castles in England to be built out of brick. We'll be

back in Herstmonceux later, but first, whether it's a short trip to

France or somewhere further afield, sailing is a pastime enjoyed by

many people living in Kent and Sussex. It's an industry that

employs over 9,000 people in the South East and one way to get

started in the yachting business is to deliver new boats to new

customers. But we've investigated claims that the operations of one

delivery company had fatal It is not always possible to avoid

bad weather, particularly if the yacht delivery company were poor is

not giving you enough support. We're getting ready to go out to

sea. It is not a delivery and they're not crossing in the oceans,

but still, this yacht is better equipped than some of those

delivered by Reliance. The crew of well-qualified, the skipper's

decision on board his final and we have got the latest act by the

report. It was midwinter when Alastair Crawford set out into the

Bay of Biscay, bound for the Caribbean. He was a recently

qualified skipper but had already crossed -- who had already crossed

the number of motions with Reliance. These pictures were shot just hours

later. Richard heat was on board. The notorious Bay of Biscay was

living up to its reputation. It is a dangerous place, as many of these

wrecks testify. We were about a mile offshore when a big wave hit

the vote. The third crew member was a 17-year-old man from Holland. He

described the events in an e-mail. Suddenly come a massive wave hit

the top of the mast, 50 ft high. Valda broke through 360 degrees. --

roared at the vote. Early Mick -- only macro make made it back on

board. Richard was exhausted from towing Alastair. I try to help him,

but he could not be resuscitated. He stayed with the vote into the

was rescued by emergency services. Alastair's body was washed up near

by and the man from Hull and never recovered from the trauma. He died

a few years later. The yacht does not appear to have been legally

registered. We understand another delivery company with boats in that

area warned its crew to stay in port. Alastair's mother claimed

there was so much pressure that he changed his plans for Christmas to

get out to France. He says it was a case of pressure, pressure,

pressure. An inquiry found Alastair was trying to reduce delays to the

delivery, but have the skipper was ultimately responsible. Richard

says the tragedy could have been prevented if basic equipment had

been on board. We could have been able to sail much better in the can

-- in the conditions with better sales. Alastair Crawford was not

qualified to sail a vote like this offshore. It is a commercial vessel

round as a business, and as such, has to be properly equipped with a

well qualified crew. It is an unregulated industry. Yachtswoman

Faisal Shahzad knows only too well the dangers of their profession and

that short cuts put lives at risk. By registering it as a pleasure

vessel, he could do the trip across and then once it gets to the

Caribbean it would become a charter yacht can to meet the requirements.

That just stinks away of not putting the safety equipment in

place required. The company says there was adequate weather

information and ways of receiving and denies Alastair was under

pressure. John was also there and had sold water running through his

veins. -- salt water. It was a natural instinct for him. He could

reap the sea. Later in that year, Reliance contra -- contacted the

sailor to take a yacht to Seattle on the north coast of America.

Delivering other people's yachts is a great way to see the world and

experience high seas. Canadian Paul wanted to get some good of --

offshore experience. It was well advertised on the internet. Paul

fluted Trinidad where he met John and Casper on board Cat Shot. But

all three were worried about the unpredictable weather and the final

voyage to Seattle. John warned Reliance about the storms. He

wanted to wait and to have it cleared and suggested an

alternative route, but Reliance has said he had retired attitude and

was making too much of the weather. They said not to worry. He did ask

Reliance if he could change route and go up around Hue and avoid the

hurricane and he was flatly told none. -- around Hawaii. Paul and

Caspar decided to leave Cat Shot when they reached California.

told John that were wasn't happy going further north at this time of

the year. John told Reliance that Paul said the chances of survival

were slim. John now needed two new crew to complete the delivery.

was told he had a tired attitude because he was complaining. John

was joined by Richard on the left hint recommended Dave. -- who

recommended day. I took him to the airport and I remember having a

really sick feeling... Excuse me. That was the last time I saw my

husband. He was asking what the weather was like. The e-mail said

that the weather was fine, C wins the lack -- see you in Seattle.

world fell apart. Carol has not seen all the evidence contained in

a report on the loss of Cat Shot and the three deaths. Before Cat

Shot left San Francisco, Paul warned reliance that the voyage was

dangerous. It was not just the weather. Paul was also concerned

about the lack of basic equipment and the condition of the vote.

There was some fairly major deficiency on the vote. There was

no heat. There was no heat, no radar, no survival suits... You

have got to stop. Stop. Sir, Could this tragedy have been avoided?

has just spent half of the money that he had the beginning on fuel

Provisions and crew and he was risking not getting paid. It was

undue pressure from the company to force him to take that final leg up

to Seattle. Wendy says the Reliance employee admitted they ignored the

warnings. These warnings will stay with me forever. They said it was

unsafe and they did not listen. They knew he was telling him that

it wasn't safe. That was really the last we heard from Reliance.

worked for or Reliance as a delivery skipper. He later had a

major falling out with the company and severed all comers. At the time,

it was terrible. It was a pretty sombre place. It wasn't long before

it was all back and running as per normal. I heard a huge bang and

they felt the vote lurched -- and they felt the ship lurched. Nobody

would know how it happened. would think that after the loss of

three men, and it would be more attentive to what the crew had to

say. But just two months later, it would appear that he ignored

another skipper. I was blunt be instructed to say, go north of

Bermuda or do not work for us again. A board was Ollie, and skipper

Steve. Steve vowed he would be at his daughter's wedding in the

States. He promised me he would be there. The French built catamaran

headed off for what should have been an easy path that at that time

of year. Steve got a text message saying that they wanted to change

I was confused. He did want to do it for the reason that this high

pressure that sits with the trade winds forming unde-- underneath has

big depressions going across the top of it. Which are the

depressions that fuel our winter weather as they travel across the

Atlantic and give us wind and rain and cold. We have from Florida the

warm Gulf Stream comes up from the cold polar region. The current

comes down and they tend to meet here. And that difference in

temperature fuels, helps generate more energy for these depression,

so they get more vicious. So he has gone from the perfect yacht

delivery route to being told to weather. Steve didn't want to

divert. It was a bad time of year to head north. Was history about to

repeat itself? They held that over his head, whether, if you don't...

Change course, go there, and if you decide to go on to Fort Lauderdale,

we might not have another job for you. The instructions came from

Reliance back in Farnborough, but Steve got his weather information

from his children. Dad had to get his own satellite phone. Even down

to training Jonathan and I how to plot the weather on the internet,

you know, with his position, and then text him important things, you

know, that were coming up in the weather, things that maybe a yacht

company should be doing. I don't know, I wasn't a professional.

the upturned Hull Kevin Olly and Steve were clipped on with harnesss

but were washed off every 30 seconds by the 45 foot waves.

land on me in a way his head was staring at my face and he was under

the water, about eight inches with his mouth agape. 11 hours after the

capsize Kevin and Olly were rescued. Matt claims Nick gave the fatal

order. Have to live with that, with the knowledge that I could have

helped him, I could have done something, I could have changed the

course of events, but... Just have to live with that. I want to show

you some of the extraordinary lengths we go to. We have evidence

that Mr Irvine lied to owners and insurance ability a skip ever's

experience. He is embellishing your CV to show lots of deliveries.

There, it is in black-and-white. Nick added nearly 10,000 miles,

tripling a skipper's actual experience. The Maritime and

Coastguard Agency asked the Crown Prosecution Service whether

criminal proceedings could follow from the death of John. But because

Cat Shot was foreign registered both were powerless. John's sister

sued for negligence and won. The judgment was damning, concluding

pressure from Reliance caused the loss of skipper and crew. He has

five deaths on his hands now. I don't know how Nick Irvine sleeps

at night. Reliance boss Nick ervin refused to be interviewed. He said

his business had completed throughs of delivery, his skippers are

professional and given 24 support. I want to ask you about the deaths

of favour sailors. Yes. I want to ask why you put so much pressure on

them to sail on a route they didn't want to. I have answered those

questions with your producer. owe it to the families of those

people who lost their husband, brothers. The losses are great. I

can't, you know, make up for that, but I do respond to those question,

and I have answered them as best I can. If you want to take it further

put it in writing. We did put it in writing and denied pressuring the

skipper. He ignored our specific questions about his e-mails so we

gave him one last chance. Sending e-mails saying they are making too

much of it. This was to John who said the weather was unsafe. I have

answered those questions. The e- mails you sent are here, putting

unfair pressure on the skippers. That is an opinion that is yours.

Obviously not mine. We offered to show MrEr vin how he was avoiding

our questions.Some I have your answers here f you want to look at

them. Then put it in writing. I am happy to respond. Can can can can I

ask you about a CV as well? Why did you falsify a skipper's experience

on a CV. That is dangerous isn't it? He has been found liable liable

in four civil cases. Four times a court has told you to pay. Why

haven't you done that? If a court has ruled that you should pay...

The court has ruled it against the company. Which you run. Yes I was

director at the time. Let us finish this here, I need to get back.

you got anything to say to the relatives of the skippers that were

lost at sea, because of your actions and your company's actions?

I have got something to say to them and it is personal and it will be

to them directly and not in a public arena here. In their grief,

relatives have found that Nick Irvine's silence speaks volumes.

had a memorial party, I sent an e- mail to see if anyone wanted to pay

their respects. No nobody replied. I don't think they have treated any

of us like human beings that have lost somebody. They clearly didn't

have any value for dad as a human being, a person or an employee.

the hugely popular Stargazing LIVE programme returns to our screens

tonight, and there are various live events taking place across Kent and

Sussex in the coming weeks. Alien life, global destruction by meteor.

Ancient gods, it is all out there in the space beyond our world. But

when was the last time you really bothered to just stare up at the

stars? What is their at traubgion and how do they affect our lives?

For thousands of years, civilisations have been obsessed

with heavenly body, from nearest planets to the outer limits. And

one place where we can learn more about them is Herstmonceux, once

home to the Royal Observatory which houses some of the most famous

telescopes in the world. We have two here, two different age, the

top is 150 years old so it is a very old one, bottom telescope, 26

inch refracting telescope, one of the biggest in the world, is 120

years old. Important research continues to be carried out here,

there are also open days for adults and children, and courses are held

for wannabe astronomer, Graham Voss is one of the instructors. So what

can we learn from locking at the stars? We can learn where we came

from, back in time, we can find out, we all came from the stars in the

beginning, back 13 billion years ago, so really we are looking at

where we came from. One man who has had close ties with Herstmonceux

and star gaist gazing in the south- east is the nation's favourite

astronomer Patrick Moore. What did you think of that. Incredible. One

thing you have to bear in mind they were magnificent pictures. I am not

going to say they show more detail from the or bitters but they

probably don't. How did he get started. A little book. The story

of the solar system. A long time favourite. I pick it up. I read it

and I was fascinated. I went on from there. There is so much to see.

Even now, always something new to see in the sky that you haven't

seen before. Exploration beyond our planet is in our blood, and has

been a driving force in our culture from science fiction, to science

fact. So how do we start star- gazing? Astronomy is open to

everybody. And you don't need a tell scoerpbgs you can start out

with the naked eye. That is the first thing you remember. Anyone

can take part. And that is a vital point. Also, it is about the one

science where the amateur can play a valuable role. Planet, stars,

solar systems. Galaxies, what do they all mean? The sky is full of

stars. And each one of those stars possibly has a peninsula trisystem

round it. When we look into the night-time sky all the stars we are

looking at belong to our Milky Way galaxy. That contains between two

and 400 billion stars. Now if you want to know how many galaxies

there are in the universe, because Tay are like islands of stars there

are the same sort of numbers. 2-400 billion galaxys in the visible

universe. A mere 2.4 million light years away, this is the Andromeda

galaxy, and on a clear night you can even see it, with the naked eye.

It's a collection of stars held together under the influence of

gravity. It is about twice the size of our own galaxy which is the

Milky Way galaxy. You can see it with the naked eye if you know

where you are looking, it's a fuzzy patch but it is there. Many of the

telescopes at Herstmonceux have played a part in historic

discoveries. Especially this one. The lens in this particular

telescope was taken to Brazil to photograph the eclipse of the sun.

In doing so, it helped prove Einstein's theory of relativity,

but what it is nice for is the planets, and I remember the first

time I looked through this telescope at Saturn and it blew my

socks off. It was fabulous. Really fabulous. As well as being an

observatory Herstmonceux has open days, or nights when it opens to

the general public who get a chance to look tru the telescopes but to

interact with the various displays. It is also a chance for local

astronomers to set up their own telescopes. Indeed, Britain has

more amateur astronomers than any other country. So what is the

attraction? After a hard day's work of driving buses I find it a

relaxing evening. I like to come up as many times as I can. Anybody can

get into it. You only need a pair of binoculars or a tiny telescope.

Doesn't have to be big. Cheap. came into star-gazing by watching

the TV programme last year, Stargazing LIVE, I take an early

retirement so it gave me an opportunity to have some free

evening, a house husband during the day and a star gazer at night.

not everyone needs to go this far, but local astronomer Paul Andrew

has built his own observatory in his back garden. With his home

observatory Paul can look out to distant galaxies, but he doesn't

just look at the star, he takes photographs of them. What you can

do is take some simple star trail photograph, using a simple digital

SLR camera. If you want to take it further, so from basic star trail

photographs, what you may want to do is counter act the earth's

rotation, so you will need a telescope, so with an adapt for you

put your cram in and you can make exposures that way. -- camera. It

is incredible how vast our galaxy is, and we will probably never know

all there is to know about our universe. Even so, the search still

goes on, and we all have a chance to be part of it. In my whole

career, what I have tried to do is interest other people, particularly

youngsters and bring them into it. If I have done that I will feel

satisfied. Have I succeeded? Others must judge that. There is certainly

a whole new world out there. Billions of them really, and you

only have to raise your eyes to see for yourself. There are many free

or low cost star-gazing events happening across Kent and East

Sussex where you can look up and learn more about the solar system

with an expert. To find your nearest star-gazing event go to

Now if you want any more information about tonight's show,

then you can visit our Kent or Sussex websites. You can watch the

whole show again by clicking on the iPlayer. Coming up next week. Could

Kent and Sussex strike it rich? amount of natural gas under the

ground, here in the UK, is estimated to be at least twice the

size of the North Sea. What are the risks involved? I was shocked to

discover how very damaging and how very dangerous it is. And the

extraordinary story of how Sandwich helped to save thousands of men

from the Holocaust. My father shoebg a lot about how when you

come from an experience where you have been ost tra siesed and made

to feel you are dirt, to come to a country where people don't know you,