:00:08. > :00:12.Delivering yachts like these across the world's oceans can be a great
:00:12. > :00:21.way to earn a living, but sometimes the reality can be far from the
:00:21. > :00:27.glamourous lifestyle of fair winds Five sailors dead in three separate
:00:27. > :00:32.tragedies. Tonight on Inside Out, did this man put profit before
:00:32. > :00:36.safety? You owe it to the families who lost
:00:37. > :00:40.their husbands, their brothers... The dangerous work on board
:00:40. > :00:44.delivery yachts is unregulated so it is all too easy for a badly
:00:44. > :00:48.equipped or unregistered boat to cross the planet's oceans like a
:00:48. > :00:53.ghost ship. How many more people, how many more skippers have to die,
:00:53. > :00:57.how many more families have to go through the heartbreak?
:00:57. > :01:02.Family and survivors claim Reliance lot management pressured skippers
:01:02. > :01:07.to sail into dangerous conditions against their better judgment, and
:01:07. > :01:17.with fatal consequences. It breaks your heart when you think of a
:01:17. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :01:34.loved one, somebody loved so much, And now the shipping forecast
:01:34. > :01:39.issued by the Met Office at 0 5:05am... It is not always possible
:01:39. > :01:41.to avoid bad weather, particularly if the yacht delivery company you
:01:41. > :01:45.work for is not giving you enough support.
:01:46. > :01:49.We are getting ready to go out to sea. It is not a delivery and we
:01:49. > :01:54.are not crushing any notions, but still this boat is better equipped
:01:54. > :01:58.than some of those delivered by Reliance. The crew are well-
:01:58. > :02:03.qualified, the skipper's decision on board is final and we have the
:02:03. > :02:09.latest weather reports. It was midwinter when Alasdair
:02:09. > :02:14.Crawford set out into the Bay of Biscay bound for the Caribbean.
:02:14. > :02:17.there are warnings of gales... was a recently qualified skipper
:02:17. > :02:25.but had already crossed a couple of Ocean's working for Hampshire-based
:02:25. > :02:34.Reliance.! So severe gale nine... - - severe gale. These pictures were
:02:34. > :02:38.shot just hours later. Richard Heath was on board.
:02:38. > :02:44.The notorious Bay of Biscay was soon be living up to its reputation.
:02:44. > :02:48.It is a dangerous place, as these many RECs testified. As we went out
:02:48. > :02:55.to see the weather deteriorated. The wind blew harder and the waves
:02:55. > :03:01.became bigger. It started off blowing 20, 25 knots, it went to 30
:03:01. > :03:10.knots, 35, 40, 45, and that is when we decided to turn back. It kept
:03:10. > :03:15.increasing, 50, 55, 60 knots, we were about a mile offshore when the
:03:15. > :03:19.big wave hit the boat on the side. The third crew member was 17 year-
:03:19. > :03:24.old Mick Dieperink from Holland. He described the events in an e-mail.
:03:24. > :03:30.Suddenly a massive wave reached the top of our mast so it had to be 50
:03:31. > :03:35.ft high. The wind speed was up to 90 knots. We were around 360
:03:35. > :03:40.degrees and knocked off the mast. All three were thrown into the sea.
:03:40. > :03:44.Only Nick made it back on board. was being blown away from us and we
:03:44. > :03:48.couldn't catch up with it. Richard's lifejacket was torn away.
:03:49. > :03:52.Alasdair called out to make who was waving a red flare from the deck.
:03:52. > :03:58.heard somebody calling me, not shouting but very relaxed. It was
:03:58. > :04:03.Alasdair. He said Mick, Mick, port side, here I am, and then I saw him.
:04:03. > :04:10.He was very calm and very, very professional. I know you can do it,
:04:10. > :04:14.take command, get some help, then another wave came, and a lost him.
:04:14. > :04:19.The skippers started to get very cold. He couldn't talk properly.
:04:19. > :04:22.His words was Lord -- slurred and I can understand what he was saying.
:04:22. > :04:26.And then he lost consciousness, and I had to swim dragging him behind
:04:26. > :04:31.me. I didn't pick Alasdair of from the water, and everybody is telling
:04:31. > :04:35.me that I couldn't, but I don't believe them. Richard and Alasdair
:04:35. > :04:40.were pummelled by the waves and struggled to stay together.
:04:40. > :04:43.Although the liferaft had inflated, it was out of reach of the two men.
:04:43. > :04:48.Richard saw a light and realised that the soap wars breaking more
:04:48. > :04:53.often and the water was getting shallow. -- the serve was breaking
:04:53. > :04:59.more often. After struggling for nearly two hours, the two men
:04:59. > :05:06.finally reach some rocks. By now, Richards was its -- exhausted from
:05:06. > :05:16.Towyn Alasdair. I try to help him. I couldn't resuscitate him. I tried
:05:16. > :05:17.
:05:17. > :05:20.to drag the skipper up the beach, but I wasn't strong enough. Mick
:05:21. > :05:24.stayed with the boat until he was rescued by the French emergency
:05:24. > :05:28.services. He also wondered whether services. He also wondered whether
:05:28. > :05:32.he could have helped Alasdair more. I am still very angry with myself.
:05:33. > :05:39.I will never know if I could make it and save him. I am depressed and
:05:39. > :05:42.I find it hard not to cry. I feel so guilty. After searching for help
:05:42. > :05:51.along the deserted coastline, Richard collapsed in an abandoned
:05:51. > :05:55.building. I went back to the beach. He wasn't there? No, so I don't
:05:55. > :06:02.know whether the tide came in, because I couldn't read come out of
:06:02. > :06:08.the water. Alasdair's body was washed up near by. Nick never
:06:08. > :06:13.recovered from the trauma. He died a few years later.
:06:13. > :06:16.The yacht does not appear to have been correctly registered, a legal
:06:16. > :06:21.requirement for any boat in international waters. We understand
:06:21. > :06:27.another delivery company with boats in that area warned its crew to
:06:27. > :06:30.stay in court -- in port. Alasdair's mother said there was so
:06:30. > :06:36.much pressure that he changed his plans for Christmas. She said it
:06:36. > :06:42.was pressure, pressure, pressure. An inquiry found Alasdair was
:06:42. > :06:45.trying to reduce delays to the delivery, but as the skipper, was
:06:45. > :06:50.ultimately responsible. Richard Heath says the tragedy could have
:06:50. > :06:54.been prevented if basic equipment had been on board. In if we had
:06:54. > :07:00.storm sails we would have been able to sail much, much better in those
:07:00. > :07:05.conditions and would not have needed to turn back.
:07:05. > :07:09.If we'd had a way of receiving weather forecasts, them potentially
:07:09. > :07:14.we would have turned back much sooner when the weather was still
:07:14. > :07:19.fairly reasonable. If we had had better charts maybe we would have
:07:19. > :07:25.selected a port that was easier to get into. Alasdair Crawford was not
:07:25. > :07:29.qualified to sail a boat like this offshore. It is a commercial
:07:29. > :07:34.vessels run as a business, and as such has to be properly equipped
:07:34. > :07:38.with a well qualified crew. A yacht been delivered for profit often
:07:38. > :07:43.against the clock and in atrocious weather is considered to be a
:07:43. > :07:46.pleasure craft. It is an unregulated industry.
:07:46. > :07:52.The yachtswoman Dee Caffari knows only too well the dangers of the
:07:52. > :07:57.profession, and that short cuts put lives at risk. By registering it as
:07:57. > :08:00.a pleasure vessel, he could do the trip across, and once it gets to
:08:00. > :08:05.the Caribbean, it was going to become a charter yacht and then
:08:05. > :08:09.meet the requirements. That's just stinks of a way of not putting the
:08:09. > :08:13.safety equipment required for an ocean passage. Reliance insist the
:08:13. > :08:16.boat was probably equipped and compliant with all the local
:08:17. > :08:20.regulations. It says there was adequate weather information and a
:08:20. > :08:24.way of receiving it, and firmly denies that Alasdair was under
:08:24. > :08:29.pressure. One of Reliance's most experienced
:08:29. > :08:32.skippers was John Anstess. He had been a senior coxswain on a
:08:32. > :08:38.lifeboat and had sold water running through his veins. His sister
:08:38. > :08:45.crewed for him. To go through the bad weather we went through, out
:08:45. > :08:50.there, incredibly calm, I had every faith in him and I said to him, why
:08:50. > :08:56.aren't you panicking, and he said, you can panic if you like, it won't
:08:56. > :09:00.help, but incredibly calm. It was a help, but incredibly calm. It was a
:09:00. > :09:05.natural instinct for him, the sea, he could read it. Later that year,
:09:05. > :09:08.Reliance contracted the Plymouth born sailor to sail the 44 ft
:09:08. > :09:10.catamaran from Cape Town to Seattle catamaran from Cape Town to Seattle
:09:10. > :09:13.catamaran from Cape Town to Seattle in the north-west coast of America.
:09:13. > :09:16.Delivering other people's yachts is Delivering other people's yachts is
:09:16. > :09:20.a great way to see the world and experienced the high seas. The crew
:09:20. > :09:22.are often unpaid as they try to build their mileage. Canadian Paul
:09:22. > :09:24.Webb wanted to get some more Webb wanted to get some more
:09:24. > :09:27.Webb wanted to get some more offshore experience. Reliance came
:09:27. > :09:31.offshore experience. Reliance came up mainly because it was fairly
:09:32. > :09:36.well advertised on the internet, and had a reputation which are
:09:36. > :09:42.thought was fairly good at the times. Paul flew to Trinidad where
:09:42. > :09:45.he met John and Caspar Venter on board kopje -- cat shot. As they
:09:45. > :09:49.voyage north the weather deteriorated. We were very close, I
:09:49. > :09:52.think, to the Colombian coast, and we started get some change in the
:09:52. > :10:01.weather. There were lots of thunderstorms and lightning, heavy
:10:01. > :10:05.rain showers, three-four metre waves. The boat was getting
:10:05. > :10:10.battered look pretty good. The best thing we could do was turn round
:10:10. > :10:15.and head back to Rober and wait for a change in the weather. Reliance
:10:15. > :10:18.criticised John for returning to port. John, Paul and Caspar motored
:10:19. > :10:24.through the Panama Canal, but all three were worried about the
:10:24. > :10:27.unpredictable weather in the final voyage to Seattle. John warned
:10:27. > :10:32.Reliance about the storms. He wanted to wait until the weather
:10:32. > :10:36.cleared, and suggested an alternative route, but Reliance
:10:36. > :10:42.said he had retired attitude and was making too much of the weather.
:10:42. > :10:46.Don't worry about it, they said. His two options were a sensible
:10:46. > :10:50.route which was safe for both boat and crew, or to stop for those bad
:10:50. > :10:55.winter months and actually went to the boat somewhere safe, and he was
:10:55. > :11:00.in San Francisco. He asked Reliance if he could change route and go up
:11:00. > :11:04.around Hawaii and avoid the hurricane, and he was flatly told,
:11:05. > :11:09.no, the owner Will Go ballistic, you are taking too long and
:11:09. > :11:14.dragging your heels. Paul felt safety was compromised and he and
:11:14. > :11:20.Caspar decided to leave cat shot when they left California. I told
:11:20. > :11:23.John I was not happy going further north at this time of the year.
:11:23. > :11:28.John told Reliance Paul said their chances of survival were slim, a
:11:28. > :11:38.view echoed by local sailors. John now needed two new crew to complete
:11:38. > :11:40.
:11:40. > :11:44.He was told he had attitude because he was complaining. He was told to
:11:44. > :11:49.tell the crew that there was nothing wrong with the weather.
:11:49. > :11:57.John was joined by Richard Beck and Dave Rodman. Dave's wife knew that
:11:57. > :11:59.her husband loved adventure but was safety-conscious. I can just
:11:59. > :12:09.safety-conscious. I can just remember having a sick feeling when
:12:09. > :12:11.
:12:11. > :12:15.I took him to the port. It was the last time I saw my husband. Dave
:12:15. > :12:20.rang from California, and Carole thought she had no reason to worry.
:12:21. > :12:27.I had nothing in his voice. I heard nothing from him other than the
:12:27. > :12:32.fact that he was excited to go. He was finally going to go. I told him
:12:32. > :12:36.to be safe, like I always did. last e-mail John had from Reliance
:12:36. > :12:41.when he asked what the weather was like because he was having
:12:41. > :12:47.difficulty getting it, the email accept that the weather was fine,
:12:47. > :12:57.NICE like winds, See You In Seattle. There are three sailors missing of
:12:57. > :13:03.
:13:03. > :13:08.the Oregon coast. The boat has been found. There is nobody there.
:13:08. > :13:14.Coastguard found the catamaran. So the boat was destined for Seattle.
:13:14. > :13:19.The crew was no way to be found. world fell apart. Carole has not
:13:19. > :13:24.seen all the evidence contained in the US Coast Guard report on the
:13:24. > :13:31.loss of Catshot and the three deaths. Before Catshot left San
:13:31. > :13:37.Francisco, Paul Ward Reliance that the wage -- warned Reliance that
:13:37. > :13:41.the voyage was dangerous. I was not leaving the boat on a whim, and I
:13:41. > :13:46.put that in an e-mail to Nick Irving. I said that I did not feel
:13:46. > :13:52.that the boat was equipped to sail the North Pacific in winter. For I
:13:52. > :13:58.did not leave the vessel on a whim, the vessel was not equipped to
:13:58. > :14:05.leave a -- sail safely in the North Pacific in November and December.
:14:05. > :14:09.Asked John, it is is not a contract fee you and not 80 -- delivery,
:14:09. > :14:17.would you do it? Would she do the voyage if he did not have a
:14:17. > :14:21.contract? He replied then, I've not. When the skipper asked other
:14:21. > :14:27.sailors, all indicated when they would not sail north at this time
:14:27. > :14:33.of year. That is before David or hop on board. It was not just the
:14:33. > :14:39.weather. There was concern about lack of equipment and the condition
:14:39. > :14:47.of the vote. There was some major deficiencies on the boat. One of
:14:47. > :14:56.the things was that there were no survival suits, no heat on the boat.
:14:56. > :15:02.It had no heat. Their radar, no survival suits. In addition, the
:15:02. > :15:12.whole had developed stress cracks. I do not know who said they saw
:15:12. > :15:26.
:15:26. > :15:32.When the coastguard found the catamaran, they found the logbook.
:15:32. > :15:36.The last entry was on Monday morning 160 miles south. Could this
:15:36. > :15:41.have been avoided? Why did a seasoned skipper like John agreed
:15:41. > :15:47.to put to sea? He has just spent half the money he had at the
:15:47. > :15:52.beginning on fuel, provisions, her thin, Crewe, so he is out of pocket
:15:52. > :15:57.and risking not getting paid. It is a hand two existence. I think it
:15:57. > :16:04.was pressure from the company to force him to take that final leg up
:16:04. > :16:10.to Seattle. There were gale-force winds back and huge seas, and that
:16:10. > :16:14.boat is not designed for that. This is a cruising and catamaran.
:16:14. > :16:19.report later revealed that Reliance told Richard Beckman's family not
:16:19. > :16:27.to alert the authorities. They said everything was fine. They might
:16:27. > :16:32.have been able to find them. Maybe they could have got to them.
:16:32. > :16:42.Richard Beckman's body was washed up 130 miles from the boat. The
:16:42. > :16:43.
:16:43. > :16:53.other bodies were never found. would have been a long-time friend.
:16:53. > :17:06.
:17:06. > :17:11.You have that affinity with him? Sorry, even today, it is terrible.
:17:11. > :17:15.Wendy says a Reliance employee admitted gave it a ignored the
:17:15. > :17:19.warnings. These words will stay with me forever. I said to her that
:17:19. > :17:26.he told it was unsafe, and she said yes, and we didn't listen. They
:17:26. > :17:32.know. They knew that he was telling them that it was not safe. And that
:17:32. > :17:42.was really the last we hear from Reliance. Now we are another five
:17:42. > :17:47.years, and I miss him still. I miss his laugh. We are never going to
:17:47. > :17:55.the dancing in the kitchen doing dishes any more. Somebody took that
:17:55. > :18:00.away from me. They took it away from me. Mat Sandys-Winsch worked
:18:00. > :18:09.for the lines as a skipper and in the office. He had a major falling-
:18:09. > :18:18.out with his -- company and severed all ties. It was terrible. It was a
:18:18. > :18:27.sombre place. It was not long before it was all back up and
:18:27. > :18:36.running as Colonel well. -- as normal. I hear a huge fan and I
:18:36. > :18:39.felt the birch -- boat lurched up and over. I could not believe this
:18:39. > :18:48.was the way I was going to go out and nobody would know how it
:18:48. > :18:54.You would think that after the loss of three men, Nick Irving would be
:18:54. > :19:03.more attentive to what the crew had to say. But two months later, Mr
:19:03. > :19:11.Irving ignored another skipper. was instructed quite bluntly to go
:19:11. > :19:19.north of Bermuda, or do not work for us again. Aboard the catamaran
:19:19. > :19:22.with Kevin Klinges was Steve Hobley and another man. They were
:19:22. > :19:26.delivering the boat from France to Florida. Steve vowed that he would
:19:26. > :19:31.be at his daughter's wedding in the States. He promised me that he
:19:31. > :19:37.would be it at wedding. The French built catamaran was heading for
:19:37. > :19:46.Fort Lauderdale at what should have been an easy passing. Five days out
:19:46. > :19:51.of Madeira, and Steve got a text message. It said that they wanted
:19:51. > :19:57.to change our course to Maryland. I was confused that anybody would
:19:57. > :20:02.want us to sail to Mary and at that time of year. He did not want to do
:20:02. > :20:06.it for the reason that this high pressure that sits with the trade
:20:06. > :20:12.winds for being underneath, that has it depressions going across the
:20:12. > :20:17.top of it. They fuel our winter weather as they travel across the
:20:17. > :20:25.Atlantic and give us our all wind and rain and cold. We have the warm
:20:25. > :20:30.Gulf Stream coming up. We have the Labrador current coming down. The
:20:30. > :20:35.need here. That difference in temperature fuels and generates
:20:35. > :20:40.more energy and they get more vicious. The route he was
:20:40. > :20:44.instructed to take was north of Bermuda, which is a completely
:20:44. > :20:51.different ball game. Basically, he had gone from the perfectly of
:20:51. > :20:55.delivery route to being told to sail in two... Yes, bad weather.
:20:55. > :21:01.Steve did not want to divert. It was a bad time of year to head
:21:01. > :21:09.north. Was history about to repeat itself? They basically held at over
:21:09. > :21:14.his head. If you do not change course and go to and a palace, and
:21:14. > :21:18.if you decide to go on to Fort Lauderdale, we might not have
:21:18. > :21:21.another job for you. instructions came from Reliance
:21:21. > :21:26.back in Farnborough, but Steve got his weather information from his
:21:26. > :21:34.children. Dad had to get his own satellite phone, even down to
:21:34. > :21:37.training Jonathan and I to plot the weather on the internet with his
:21:37. > :21:43.position and their text in important things that were coming
:21:43. > :21:50.up in the weather. Things that a yacht company should have been day.
:21:50. > :21:56.I was not a professional. catamaran capsized 200 miles from
:21:56. > :22:05.Bermuda in 45 ft waves and Jared Payne forced winds. Steve was
:22:05. > :22:14.becoming hypothermic. I heard him talking to his mum. It was strange.
:22:14. > :22:20.It was sad. The notion seemed to get more aggressive. -- Ocean. And
:22:20. > :22:25.then I was thrown off the hull with Steve. He landed on me and his head
:22:25. > :22:33.was staring right into my face. He was underneath the water, with his
:22:33. > :22:38.navigate and his eyes wide open. He had died and I was going to try
:22:38. > :22:45.everything I could to give his family his body, give them
:22:45. > :22:52.something. If I could do that. Another wave came and blue was of
:22:52. > :22:59.the boat and I climbed back on and that holds an order for seven I
:22:59. > :23:04.eight Jansch and there was just a lifejacket. And with my strobe
:23:04. > :23:10.light flashing through the water, I could see Steve's face and he was
:23:10. > :23:15.looking up at me like this... His eyes were closed and with each
:23:15. > :23:23.blinking successive Light, he was three or four feet underneath the
:23:23. > :23:27.water, then five or six feet, and then the last I saw him he was
:23:27. > :23:37.around 12 feet underneath the water. He slipped into the darkness and I
:23:37. > :23:39.
:23:39. > :23:43.came back on board. Having nothing back of debt, it leaves a wound,
:23:43. > :23:49.like somebody has just walked out of your life. They have an appeal
:23:49. > :23:55.for women you I in mid-conversation. It is the most awful thing.
:23:55. > :24:01.hours after the capsize, Kevin and on the were rescued. Mat Sandys-
:24:01. > :24:04.Winsch claims that Nick Irving gave the fatal order. I have to live
:24:04. > :24:11.with the knowledge that I could have helped him. I could have done
:24:11. > :24:20.something. I could have changed the course of events. But it is have to
:24:20. > :24:24.live with it. I am Nick Irving, the director of Reliance. I want to
:24:24. > :24:29.show you some of the extraordinary lengths we go to to prepare abodes
:24:29. > :24:39.for delivery. We have evidence that Mr Irving lied to insurance
:24:39. > :24:39.
:24:39. > :24:47.companies about his skippers? Experience. He had relished CVs to
:24:47. > :24:53.shown lots of deliveries. He tripled the skipper's actual
:24:53. > :24:57.experience. Experience can only be gained by miles that you have, but
:24:57. > :25:02.it shows. If you have not done the miles, it shows by mistakes or not
:25:02. > :25:07.knowing things. To enhance somebody's mileage in that position
:25:07. > :25:12.of responsibility when they have not had that experience is a
:25:12. > :25:16.shocking thing to do. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency asked the
:25:16. > :25:21.Crown Prosecution Service to whether a criminal proceedings
:25:21. > :25:31.would follow. Because Catshot was the registered abroad, they are
:25:31. > :25:33.
:25:33. > :25:37.powerless. Reliance was sued and won. The result was damning. He has
:25:37. > :25:43.got five deaths on his hands. I do not know how Nick Irving sees at
:25:43. > :25:47.night. Nick Irving refused to the interview. In a state and, he said
:25:47. > :25:51.his business had completed thousands of deliveries. He said
:25:51. > :25:56.his skippers are highly professionals and gives them a 24
:25:56. > :25:59.hour support. I want to ask you about the deaths of five sailors.
:25:59. > :26:04.Why I put in so much pressure on them to say on every they did not
:26:04. > :26:08.want to. I have answered all those questions with your producer.
:26:08. > :26:14.owe it to the families of the sailors and skippers who lost their
:26:14. > :26:18.husbands, brothers. The losses are great. I cannot make up for that.
:26:18. > :26:23.But I do respond to those questions and I have answered them as best
:26:23. > :26:27.they can. Please put any further questions in writing. We did put it
:26:27. > :26:31.in writing, and he denied pressuring the skippers. He ignored
:26:31. > :26:41.specific questions, so we gave him one last chance to defend himself.
:26:41. > :26:42.
:26:42. > :26:46.Sending e-mails like this, saying that it was unsafe... And have
:26:46. > :26:51.answered those questions to your producer. It is here and black-and-
:26:51. > :26:55.white that you put unfair pressure on the skippers. That is your
:26:55. > :27:02.opinion, not mine. We offered to show Mr Irving how he was avoiding
:27:02. > :27:10.our questions. I have got your answers here. Put it in writing. I
:27:10. > :27:13.am happy to respond in writing. asked to write a CV as well? Why
:27:13. > :27:18.did you falsified a skipper's experience on ECB? That is
:27:18. > :27:27.dangerous. He has been found liable in four civil cases that has failed
:27:27. > :27:29.to pay damages as ordered. Four times a court has taught you to pay.
:27:29. > :27:36.Why had he not done that? If a court has ruled that you should
:27:36. > :27:42.pay... The court has ruled against the company. Which you run. Yes, I
:27:42. > :27:46.was director at the time. Let us finish this here. Any to get back.
:27:46. > :27:52.Have you got anything to say to the relatives of the skippers that were
:27:52. > :27:55.lost at sea because of your actions and your company's actions?
:27:55. > :28:01.have got something to say to them and it is personal and it will be
:28:01. > :28:05.to them directly and not in a public arena. Boasted South found
:28:05. > :28:09.that Nick Irving's silence speaks volumes. We had a memorial party.
:28:10. > :28:19.send an e-mail to the office to see if anyone wanted to come and pay
:28:20. > :28:20.