Weird Scenarios with Sailboats
In one of the weirder kinda-sailing-related news items we’ve seen in a while, a group of Greek boaters were arrested for smuggling immigrants into Italy — apparently using sailboats they’d bought via internet ads.
The most recent interdiction reportedly occurred last Saturday off the Greek port of Hydra, when the Greek Coast Guard boarded a smallish center-cockpit boat (we don’t recognize the design) that was motoring at night, sails stowed but running lights on. Aboard were “two skippers, members of the organization and 19 immigrants . . . including four minors,” according to one online article. (Another online article said the ring had been “about to smuggle 119 people on the yacht.” Yet another claimed that 140 immigrants had been smuggled into Italy since November 2018. So your guess is as good as ours as to what’s correct.)
None of the online news items we found indicated why the smugglers seemed to prefer sailboats to other larger, faster, higher-capacity craft.
While we’re on the subject of sailboats doing illegal stuff, a bit of Bay Area trivia for you . . .
Many of you will recall the Ocean 71 Second Life, which years ago used to charter out of Sausalito. “But wait!” you might be blurting right now — “Isn’t it illegal for ‘foreign hulls’ to charter in the United States?” (The Ocean 71s were built in Britain.) Yes, it is. You blurters win a cookie. All vessels that charter here must have been built here.
Well, maybe not all of them . . .
Turns out there is a provision in maritime law that goes back to the days of fighting sail: If you seize a foreign-hulled ship engaged in illegal activity (such as shooting cannons at you), that ship automatically becomes an ‘American’ hull.
Second Life had a storied career, which included participating in the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973 under Roderick “Roddy” Ainslie (Ben’s dad). But it was being busted by the Coast Guard for smuggling — in this case, drugs — that set the boat up for a whole new chapter. Under that age-old provision, the boat “became” an American hull, and was thus legal to charter in American waters.
Sadly, that storied career came to an end after the boat left the Bay. Second Life sank in the Caribbean.
Boats built or flagged?
The center cockpit sailboat used by the smugglers looks similar but slightly different than an O’Day 32 center cockpit sloop vintage 1977 or thereabouts. That’s probably not what it actually is because it looks slightly different.
The boat is a Clipper Marine 32. There was one berthed next to us for a few months.
Yep
It looks like a Westerly Renown … I think there may have been a non-ketch version.
No I don’t think its a Clipper Marine they have a larger and more pointed bow. And not likely a Clipper Marine would make it to the Greek Islands. I am reasonably sure its a Westerly, an English built sailboat. They made a few small center cockpit boats like this, like the Westerly Renown. Could also be a Rustler or similar other British boat, but my bet would be Westerly. Also the gold color Proctor mast is a giveaway most European built boats this era (mo-id to late 1970’s ) had these type masts.
You can “charter” or carry up to six passengers commercially with a foreign built hull and a “six pack”
Coast Guard document. 7 or more pax and you need to have a US built vessel and a CG masters tonnage document..
JR Lambert- you can charter a foreign built hull with up to 12 passengers as long as you get the vessel USCG documented for “Coastwise Trade” with a MARAD Waiver .
“Second Life” was seized for drugs under the ‘Zero Tolerance’ law and was sold off by US Customs and became a charter sailboat in Sausalito sailing out of Marina Plaza for many years.
It’s unmistakably a Westerly
The boat is a Westerly 33 if I’m not mistaken.
It looks like a Westerly Renown – https://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/westerly-renown/westerly-renown.htm
I stand corrected… very similar to the Clipper Marine.