A charter fishing boat and a J/105 sailboat had a serious collision Friday. Images show the fishing boat on top of the sailboat. The Capital-Gazette reported that none of the nine people on board the boats was hurt.
Photos from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources show that the sailboat, named Levitation, was skewered by the charter fishing boat The Hunter out of Kent Island.
Levitation is owned by the Chesapeake Boating Club in Eastport, Md. Club owner Kevin Ryman told the Capital-Gazette the fishing boat hit the sailboat despite crew efforts aboard Levitation to avoid the collision. “Our members were operating the boat in a safe manner, on a day with clear visibility and 10 to 12 knots of breeze,” Ryman told the newspaper. “The J/105 crew attempted to … take action to avoid the collision.”
The paper reported that seven people were on the fishing boat. The Coast Guard, which took over the investigation from the state police, has not determined which boat was at fault. There has been no determination whether alcohol or excess speed were factors. After it evacuated the seven people from The Hunter, the Coast Guard said that the boat slid off the sailboat.
Boating accidents have killed 16 people this year in the Chesapeake and its tributaries.
