Massive design flaw caused tragedy

Peter Swanson’s Loose Cannon blog has been reviewing the Perini Navi built 184-foot luxury yacht which capsized at anchor, leading to seven of 22 people on board perishing. Here’s his latest report:

In an extraordinary effort, The New York Times has made the case that blame for the Bayesian disaster was not so much crew error—as alleged by the builder—but a massive design flaw that begat other design flaws.

You guessed it: The root of all evil was the boat’s 237-foot aluminum mast.

“The sheer size of the Bayesian’s mast and rigging made the yacht a wind-catcher even with the sails down,” The Times said in an October 30 article written by seven top-knotch reporters. – Full report

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