Comedy Boat Driving into Richmond Bridge

bernithebiker

Used to live on Richmond Hill, so know this spot well, would love to have seen this live!;


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/luxur ... 96548.html

VmanF3

What a complete tool!

Mikey23

aww... shame

veronese68

To think I went for a drink at the top of Richmond Hill yesterday, so close to seeing it with my own eyes. They mention strong currents as being to blame, but no mention of the fact that the river there is tidal and the water level would have dropped soon enough. In fact the tide is going out looking at the video clip.

team47b

Com'on Vtech tell us what you did next?

bernithebiker

team47b wrote:

Com'on Vtech tell us what you did next?

he wrote a blank cheque for the boat repair company.......

mr_goo

bernithebiker wrote:

team47b wrote:

Com'on Vtech tell us what you did next?

he wrote a blank cheque for the boat repair company.......

That was just the tender he was playing in.

capt_slog

The 'captain' doesn't seem to be the only one on the boat so what were the rest of the f*ckwits doing to help? No-one seems to be trying to fend the boat off the bridge, perhaps another case of 'to posh to push' ? :roll:

seanoconn

Capt Slog wrote:

The 'captain' doesn't seem to be the only one on the boat so what were the rest of the f*ckwits doing to help? No-one seems to be trying to fend the boat off the bridge, perhaps another case of 'to posh to push' ? :roll:

I have you tried fending a luxury yacht in strong currents? Well neither have I, but I'd imagine its a tad more difficult than fending a gondola and considerably more dangerous.

arran77

seanoconn wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

The 'captain' doesn't seem to be the only one on the boat so what were the rest of the f*ckwits doing to help? No-one seems to be trying to fend the boat off the bridge, perhaps another case of 'to posh to push' ? :roll:

I have you tried fending a luxury yacht in strong currents? Well neither have I, but I'd imagine its a tad more difficult than fending a gondola and considerably more dangerous.

That river looks to be flowing pretty fast, don't reckon I'd be doing anything that might put me between the boat and the bridge either

ballysmate

seanoconn wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

The 'captain' doesn't seem to be the only one on the boat so what were the rest of the f*ckwits doing to help? No-one seems to be trying to fend the boat off the bridge, perhaps another case of 'to posh to push' ? :roll:

I have you tried fending a luxury yacht in strong currents? Well neither have I, but I'd imagine its a tad more difficult than fending a gondola and considerably more dangerous.

Disappointed in you Sean. A superhero living just up the river from Richmond, thinking the job a tad too risky.
Christopher Reeve used to fly in to save aeroplanes, but you can't handle a little boat.
Mind you, it didn't end well for him did it? So you could be right.

seanoconn

Ballysmate wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

The 'captain' doesn't seem to be the only one on the boat so what were the rest of the f*ckwits doing to help? No-one seems to be trying to fend the boat off the bridge, perhaps another case of 'to posh to push' ? :roll:

I have you tried fending a luxury yacht in strong currents? Well neither have I, but I'd imagine its a tad more difficult than fending a gondola and considerably more dangerous.

Disappointed in you Sean. A superhero living just up the river from Richmond, thinking the job a tad too risky.
Christopher Reeve used to fly in to save aeroplanes, but you can't handle a little boat.
Mind you, it didn't end well for him did it? So you could be right.

Sorry Bally. Lois Lane has been very demanding of my time lately.

arran77

seanoconn wrote:

Ballysmate wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

The 'captain' doesn't seem to be the only one on the boat so what were the rest of the f*ckwits doing to help? No-one seems to be trying to fend the boat off the bridge, perhaps another case of 'to posh to push' ? :roll:

I have you tried fending a luxury yacht in strong currents? Well neither have I, but I'd imagine its a tad more difficult than fending a gondola and considerably more dangerous.

Disappointed in you Sean. A superhero living just up the river from Richmond, thinking the job a tad too risky.
Christopher Reeve used to fly in to save aeroplanes, but you can't handle a little boat.
Mind you, it didn't end well for him did it? So you could be right.

Sorry Bally. Loo's Lane has been very demanding of my time lately.

FTFY :P

bernithebiker

The whole manoeuvre was clearly never on in the 1st place, so why the captain tried it defies belief.

And yes the currents are very strong there on what looks like something of a spring tide.

Many cars are caught out by the fast tide just the other side of the bridge - at least once a month I''d see a car flooded there.

Our friends in East Twickenham had their car ruined by the tide too; name of the street? Flood Road. Duh!!!

southdownswolf

"Witnesses said the yacht successfully passed underneath after the river level subsided."

...and 6ft had been smashed off the top of the boat.

mustgettaller

I've worked for years in the sailing industry - driving boats for a living. These types of gin-palaces are an absolute bitch to manoeuvre. Often a situation becomes irrecoverable quite early on...

I reckon he was doomed from the moment he went astern and started swinging the stern to starboard. From this point on, he could only get away from the bridge by driving fast astern towards the bank and then putting in a very hard turn to port, or straightening up astern to get distance from the bridge.

The best thing to have done on the first touch of the bridge would have been to leave the boat there and wait for the tide to subside or get a tow off - any attempt to drive off just causes more damage (as we've seen).

All in all - ouch ouch ouch! Half of me laughs at him, half has a lot of sympathy. While I don't like stink-boats much, I hate to see something damaged like this.

capt_slog

seanoconn wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

The 'captain' doesn't seem to be the only one on the boat so what were the rest of the f*ckwits doing to help? No-one seems to be trying to fend the boat off the bridge, perhaps another case of 'to posh to push' ? :roll:

I have you tried fending a luxury yacht in strong currents? Well neither have I, but I'd imagine its a tad more difficult than fending a gondola and considerably more dangerous.

Not a luxury yacht no, but actually something a bit bigger. I was on a slip one day and there was an old Norfolk Broads sailing boat trying to come in. The skipper looked to be inexperienced and was taking directions from a second similar boat. I saw they were going to hit the pointy end fairly hard and was feeling charitable, so I sat down on the quay and pushed it off with my feet a bit like you see the "plank and leggit" thing they do with canal boats in tunnels.