Moquini designer withdraws builders' licence

by Sail-World on 20 Feb 2006 South African IOL Newsline reports that the designer of the wrecked yacht Moquini has suspended the licence of the company that builds and sells his yachts, insisting they complete a checklist to determine if they made any alterations to his original design.

Last week the Moquini, a Fast 42, was found drifting 500 nautical miles off the Wild Coast, upside down and with the keel broken off.

The yacht was spotted nearly five months after it and its crew of six went missing during the Mauritius to Durban race.

Alex Simonis, the Dutch designer of the Moquini who is based in Cape Town, said on Wednesday: 'I suspect, from the photos I have seen, that the hull sailed over a container, with the keel taking the full impact, which pushed it into the boat.'

'It is possible that the builder deviated from my original design and, though in 12 years there have never been any structural problems with the design, I have to keep the option open that there is something wrong with it.'

Responding to speculation that the keel broke off simply because of the rough conditions, Simonis said: 'Highly unlikely, considering the clean break-off.'

Simonis emphasised that he is not accusing Fast Yachts, the Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal-based company that built 25 yachts like the Moquini, of any negligence.

'This is a precautionary measure.'

Tyler shares the view of Simonis that the yacht most likely hit a container.

'Weeks before the race started a container ship lost 39 containers in the area,' he said.

Fast Yachts was started by 2 sailing enthusiasts who wanted to buy a new boat. All the good second hand boats in South Africa had been sold to foreigners who saw good value in the SA market.

According to their web site: 'We acquired the moulds from the quality boat builders Robertson and Cain and were off to build a boat. Before we knew it the latent demand was so great that the orders just came in. With the introduction of the internet, the orders have not stopped. To date we have sold boats throughout the world and a passion has turned into a great business and a foreign exchange earner for South Africa.'