August 17, 2018, was a clear, calm day on the Chesapeake when a 34-foot powerboat ran into the side of a 35-foot sailboat near Annapolis. Fortunately, none of the seven people on the powerboat, or the two people on the sailboat, were seriously injured.
But once the picture of the accident, taken by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, was released, it went viral. Boaters and non-boaters alike asked, how did this happen?
The powerboat, a 34-foot deadrise charter boat named Hunter, was brand new. It was on its very first day in the water, with a licensed captain on board. The sailboat, Levitation, was a J/105, with two friends out for a summer sail.
After the accident, the Coast Guard reported that drugs or alcohol were not involved. Weather obviously was not an issue either. So what went wrong?
The people at Chesapeake Bay Media and the Annapolis School of Seamanship were puzzled along with the rest of us. The difference was that they decided to do something about it. Using the Coast Guard accident report, including GPS headings, they recreated the accident, using another J/105, an identical sailboat, and another 34-foot deadrise powerboat. Here’s what they found:
