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SVN Solovelanet Global
Sailors life
W
hat happened to Richard Smith,
who is now under house arrest
awaiting trial for manslaughter,
could actually happen to anyone
sailing with guests on board.
Mr Smith is the owner of a 14-metre yawl named
Cimarron which he uses for taking tourists around
the Caribbean on short cruises. At the start of the
2015 season, while he was sailing down the coast
of Maine in the United States, he embarked some
passengers who wanted to spend some time at sea.
As often happens on cabin charters, a passenger left
the boat in North Carolina, and another passenger
joined in his place.
The new passenger, David Pontious, was a man of
more than 110 kilos and was 1.9 metres tall, a large
and rather scary-looking customer.
With a crazy
man on board
When passenger on a charter boat loses his
mind and commits suicide by jumping overbo-
ard, the skipper is arrested.
by Alessandro Gallo
Rick Smith, Cimmaron skipper