Rarely before has been a fight so unfair and unexpected: a 30-meter (98.4-foot) yacht fought the wind and lost, running aground on a beach and then into a stone pier in Spetses, Greece. Damage is believed to have been extensive – to the yacht, obviously, not to the wind.
The incident happened earlier this week in Spetses, Greece. The country has been dealing with surprisingly high winds over recent days, peaking in the area on the day when the motor yacht Why ran aground. According to local reports cited by one major trade publication, the captain of Why was actually trying to prevent damage to the vessel and ironically ended up suffering the exact same fate.
As the local marina was experiencing lots of commotion because of the high winds, the captain of Why decided to sail away from the main town pier, into an area where he deemed chances of incurring damages as considerably lower. The wind ended up blowing the yacht onto the beach, where it ran aground, and then into another pier, into which it kept smashing repeatedly with its bow, unable to pull back because it was stuck.
The Coast Guard was called in to offer assistance and set up a floating crane in a bid to keep the yacht from repeatedly hitting the pier. Why eventually began taking on water, with eyewitnesses saying that damage to the hull was considerable.
Photo: YouTube/ProtoThema
The only silver lining is that no one was hurt in the incident. As one of the videos below shows, when the yacht was blown onto the beach, it seemed to be carrying at least a handful of people, but they were probably on terra firma by the time it began smashing into the stone pier.
According to the report, once Why is removed from its current location, a diver will inspect the area for any contaminants or damage to the reef. Should either be observed, an investigation will determine the next course of action, as well as who is responsible financially for covering the damages.
Why is a 2005 yacht designed and built by Italian shipyard Cantieri Navali Rizzardi, with an exterior design by Galeazzi Design and interiors by Michela Reverberi. It offers 193 GT of interior volume but accommodation for an unspecified number of guests because it was never offered for charter or publicly for sale. There is some indication that it was also registered as Zambezi.
With a GRP hull and superstructure, and powered by twin MTU engines, Why can max out at 32 knots (37 mph/59.2 kph). It was last refitted in 2017, but after this week's incident, it's heading back into the shop much sooner than the owner must have anticipated.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News