French yacht skipper Marc Guillemot fined for sailing in wrong way off Dover
The skipper of a French racing yacht
has been ordered to pay more than £13,000 after travelling the
wrong way in shipping lanes off Dover.
Marc Guillemot refused to change his
route because he was trying to set a new world record for the
fastest sail around the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The 53-year-old forced several ships
to alter their course to avoid crashing into his yacht, the Safran,
as he travelled 28 nautical miles in the wrong direction.
Now magistrates have fined him £9,381
and ordered he pay £4,125 in costs.
The Safran left Lizard Point, in
Cornwall, on June 6 in an attempt to beat its own record the
previous year.
But Dover Coastguard spotted the yacht
going in the wrong direction in the Dover Strait Traffic Separation
Scheme.
Guillemot ignored messages urging him
to turn around - claiming it would ruin his record attempt.
Kaimes Beasley, from Dover Coastguard,
said: "The Strait of Dover Traffic Separation Scheme is one of the
busiest in the world.
"Mr Guillemot was reckless in his
navigation during the hours of darkness not only in the Dover
Strait TSS, but also in the Sunk Traffic Separation Scheme.
"He put his crew and other vessels at
significant risk in order to try to beat his previous record."
Guillemot pleaded guilty to breaching
the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing
Collisions at Sea at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday,
December 6.
07/12/12
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