One wonders if the Fifth Estate coverage has had any effect? The Wikipedia article on the Picton Castle reads as if it were an advertisement written by the vessel's owners!

Flags of Convenience are just that: convenient!! Quite often, convenience and safety do not mix.
The ship if registered in Canada would have been subject to more rigorous inspections, high wage rates and higher staffing requirements.

The experienced yachtsman who took one look at the vessel and refused to sail on her made the right decision mainly because he had the information on which to base his decision. Most of those who signed on were curious but ill-informed of the risks. Once underway, the risks multiplied with so many of the "crew" seasick and so many billeting disruptions with no one really knowing what to do.

The Captain wanted that ship in tropical waters fast so as to meet the requirements for a profitable TV show. He gambled with the weather and the lives of the students. He won. Aspiring trainee Gainey lost!

Hello
I've just registered to say your site is very useful and nicely done!
Thank you very much for your work.

Cheers!

Sorry for offtopic.

I ahve just watched the show "Overboard" which I had recorded from Nov 5th. My heart goes out to Bob Gainey for the loss of his beautiful daughter in what has been called an "accident"! There was definitely a huge amount of careless decisions made on making this voyage in the first place. With the upcoming season of bad weather and the Captain passing on this trip to his First Mate with an understaffed crew and a large number of trainees, this trip was made with no respect for the lives of these young people. This trip was strictly for the financial gain of getting it to the Islands for the the reality TV show and the exposure to go along with it. Trainees should not have been put into the positions they were in during this storm without being paired with a trained crewperson.The so called new regulations the Captain has mandated should have already been in place with being a training vessel as a precaution. Inquiries into this is truly a waste of money as the fault and the necessary safety precautions to be taken are so plain and simple to see!

This is tough to deal with on so many levels. I have been trying to write something for 2 hours now and still have no idea where to start. I am a professional sailor on the great lakes at the moment,but I have sailed on the oceans of the world for a lot longer. It would take an Inquirey to break down the obvious safety violations and ABUSES that the 5th estate footage showed alone. There are 2 ways to keep costs down to obscene levels...#1 Flags of convienence and #2 find some way to get your ship called a training ship. These clowns managed to do both on a tall ship. (A home made tall ship)