A CATALOGUE of errors, including loopholes in maritime safety created by the internet, led to the deaths of three friends off Whitby, it was revealed yesterday.
They sailed a motor cruiser they had bought online into the teeth of a storm outside the harbour last November.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) says the det-ermination of the "naive" and over-confident sailors – cocooned from the extreme weather in their boat canopy – to go for one last sail before mothballing the Last Call cost them their lives.
As the vessel was leaving Whitby the local lifeboat house radioed it to warn of the danger of a strong northerly wind which had created 12ft to 16ft-high waves at the harbour entrance.
But there was no reply from the Last Call, whose radio was not tuned into the emergency channel because it had been impor-ted from the United States without going through the normal checks that ensure a proper hand-over between seller and buyer.
Andrew Carrick, 45, his partner Jill Russell, 48, and his brother John Carrick, 36, from Middlesbrough, died "due to immersion in salt water, " the MAIB said.
According to its report their lack of training and qualification in sailing a small boat was a major factor in the tragedy.
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