A cracked keel

A naval architect was contacted by a company to design a yacht for a race.

The yacht was built and sailed over 10,000 miles without fault. However, when the yacht was lifted from the water, several cracks were noticed along the keel blade. Both the manufacturers and the naval architect were notified that cracks had appeared. The naval architect subsequently realised that an error had occurred when transposing the design specifications onto the blueprint drawings which were then passed onto the manufacturers. This error in design meant the keel did not meet the strict strength specifications required of a racing yacht. The naval architect informed the company of their error. However, a subsequent survey completed by a third-party surveyor found the cracks to be caused by incorrect manufacturing techniques.

The manufacturers offered to repair the keel but if they had done so it would still have been unsuitable for racing due to the design error. ITIC agreed that a keel of the correct specification should be supplied and additional costs were settled by the Club.