MARBELLAROCKS-JANFEB2017

DON’T LET US FORGET
WILL BLACK BURSURY
On Saturday September 25th at approximately 10.20pm on the last day
of the Monaco YACHT Show 2010, a terrible tragedy occurred.
Captain Michael Ziems of Sailing Yacht Burrasca
was onshore at a meeting with brokers. Around
the same time Bosun William Black was returning
to the yacht on the tender, leaving the harbour for
Burrasca, which was anchored just outside the
harbour walls. Suddenly the tender collided into the
unmanned 31-metre sailing yacht Fado (pictured with
Burrasca just visible in the background.)
No one knows exactly what happened but William
disappeared. After a 2-day search by coastguards,
Will was presumed dead.
JUDITH’S STORY (WILL’S MOTHER)
48
On September 27th we received a phone call from his
Captain advising us of Will’s accident and that the Air
Sea Rescue had been called off. We made arrangements
to fly out but upon arriving in Monaco, we discovered
that the Burrasca had already left the port, having
deposited Will’s belongings with the local police.
This meant that we never saw the boat he was working
on, met with the Captain or crew he worked with, in fact
we never heard from them again. The boat was taken out
of European waters by the owners so they couldn't be
held accountable for anything to do with the accident and
subsequently put up for sale. We later found out none of
the crew were insured by the boat - as if none of their lives
mattered and that Will’s death was an inconvenience. We
have now heard of other families who have lost loved ones
in similar horrific accidents that could possibly have been
avoided if there were stricter marine laws.
Talking to some of the families affected, we want to
join with them and raise awareness about the fact that
the lack of care for human life is not acceptable and
needs to change.
Following the inquest into Will's accident, we suspect
that the tender that he was driving on his way back to SY
Burrasca, must have been hit by the swell from another
tender ahead, that was being driven at speed. This must
have knocked him off the boat and he fell into the water,
either knocking himself unconscious or breaking his neck.
Either way it would have been instantaneous. The boat
then kept going and crashed into a moored boat. However
the fact there was no life jacket being worn and the kill
chord switch had been disabled (under order of the boat
presumably to save time - the kill chord stops the boat if
the driver falls off) meant the divers searching for Will at
the crash site never found his body because they were
searching in the wrong place. If a life jacket had been worn,
then in the worst case we would have been able to find
his body and have to chance to bring him home and bury
MARBELLAROCKS | ISSUE 27
him and, best case scenario, if he had only been knocked
unconscious we'd still have him with us.
Either way safety of crew is such an important issue and
one which we can't let go. Will had such a huge personality
and love of life know although this has left us devastated we
are pleased to be doing something wonderful in his name.
As well as wanting to get boat enthusiasts, crew, owners
or any companies that might want to support us to raise
money for The Will Black Bursary, we have set up with
sailing academy UKSA - to fund new sailors to train and get
into the sailing industry which he loved so much.