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Lyall Babington sustained catastrophic injuries in the accident
George LithgowThursday 27 November 2025 17:37 GMTComments
open image in galleryThe aft cockpit winches on board the recreational sailing vessel Mollie (Marine Accident Investigation Branch)
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A 74-year-old man on a round-the-world sailing trip died after being pulled into a faulty winch, an investigation has found.
Lyall Babington, a New Zealand national, sustained catastrophic injuries after being caught in a rope and pulled into the device, becoming “tightly wound” around its drum.
His crew rushed to stop the winch using the control switch, but he could not be saved.
A Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report concluded the winch was defective.
Babington had been living aboard his 17-metre yacht, Mollie, for three years, having set off from New Zealand and recruiting crew members at various ports.
While one crew member had been with the vessel for approximately five months, two others had only joined the day prior to the fatal accident.
open image in galleryLyall Babington had been living aboard Mollie for three years (Marine Accident Investigation Branch)On 5 August this year, the yacht left West Wittering, West Sussex, heading for Poole, Dorset.
By 11am, Mollie was south‑south-west of the Needles, the three 30-metre stacks of chalk off the Isle of Wight.
As Babington, a pensioner, was trying to raise a sail, the winch turned on and his right hand became caught in the rope around it, the MAIB said.
“The winch continued to turn and the skipper was progressively pulled tighter onto the winch drum,” the report said.
“The crew tried to stop the winch using the control switch.
“After a number of attempts, the winch stopped turning and the crew assessed the skipper for signs of life. The skipper was unresponsive and tightly wound over and around the winch.”
An RNLI lifeboat and a rescue helicopter were sent to the yacht and tried to free Babington from the winch.
As they did so, the winch turned on without warning and dropped the pensioner onto the deck, the MAIB said.
Despite their best efforts, Babington could not be saved.
Investigations found the winch had a known defect to its controls which sometimes caused it to stay on after the switch had been released.
No further action had been taken, the MAIB said.
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