A split second after detonation by a wireless remote ‘trigger’ from the Navy’s RIB, there was a brief orange fireball followed by the explosion. On the second attempt, a simplified method was used to ensure the crucial gas-air mix. The first attempt failed, after a suspenseful 25-minute wait for the gas to disperse in the yacht’s cabin and mix with oxygen. On hand to set up the detonation of the blast was RN Fleet Explosives Staff Officer Lieutenant Commander Harry Palmer, with Petty Officer John Spencer. The site chosen for our test was off Bembridge Ledge, at the eastern end of the Isle of Wight, where the yacht was anchored in 8m and a 200m exclusion zone was set up under the watchful eye of the Queen’s Harbourmaster at Portsmouth. (Clockwise round cockpit from left) Petty Officer John Spencer, RN Fleet Explosives Staff Officer Lieutenant Commander Harry Palmer, Chris Beeson, Yachting TV’s Steve Adams, and our gas expert David Stopard David Stopard, an expert in gas installations on yachts, was also our consultant. We enlisted the help of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Explosives experts, from Navy Command HQ in Portsmouth, for this, the most technically challenging and complex trial in our Crash Test Boat series. What warning signs you should watch for to avoid a gas leak. Six tips on what to do if you smell a gas leak on your boat.What essential checks you need to make on a regular basis.What you can learn from others’ mistakes.Our investigations following this test will tell you: We know of other incidents abroad that have also not been reported in the UK. A huge percentage of gas leak ‘incidents’ are not reported unless they involve the emergency services. Many involve motorboats and canal boats, but they also include sailing boat incidents, one resulting in a known fatality. Steven Clinch, the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, gave us a dossier with 18 reported incidents ‘of interest’, most of them within the last 10 years. We asked the Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) for details of recent cases where gas bottles were involved in explosions and fires on leisure craft. It’s unpredictable and there are no half measures. But a gas explosion is in a different league. In all our previous trials – including capsize, sinking and fire – we experimented with various ways of coping with emergencies so we could tell readers from first-hand experience which one worked best. The final dramatic test in our eight-month long Crash Test Boat series was carried out with serious reservations and concerns, not to mention trepidation.
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