Fatal accident: Defective switch turns electric winch into a murder weapon
On 5 August 2025, the circumnavigation of the 74-year-old New Zealand skipper Lyall Babington ended fatally. Babington died on board his sailing yacht "Mollie" after becoming entangled in an electric winch about 2.8 nautical miles south-south-west of Needles Lighthouse off the Isle of Wight. The skipper had set off from New Zealand three years earlier and had since sailed with a succession of fellow sailors who hired hand for berth from him at the base.
Tragedy in the Western Solent
The "Mollie" had set off from West Wittering on the day of the accident on a passage to Poole. In addition to Babington, there were three other crew members on board, two of whom had only joined the day before, while the third crew member had been on board for around five months with interruptions.
When the yacht reached the Western Solent at around 11.00 a.m., Babington informed his crew that they would have to set the storm jib to be able to go higher upwind. To do this, the halyard was usually led to one of the electric winches at the stern of the cockpit, which were operated by a switch on the pedestal that was normally operated with the knee. The winches were operated with 24-volt direct current.
The inner of the two aft winches had a known defect in the control switch, which meant that the winch sometimes continued to run after the switch had already been released. Earlier in the day this winch had been used to recover the dinghy and so the halyard used for this was still on the drum. When Babington tried to release it from the winch, it suddenly started to turn and his right hand got caught in the rope.
Desperate rescue attempts
As the winch continued to turn, the skipper was pulled harder and harder onto the winch, causing serious injuries to his arm and hand as well as to his head and chest. The crew tried to stop the winch using the control switch. After several attempts, the winch stopped and the crew examined the skipper, who stopped responding. The crew then made an emergency call to the coastguard.
That was at 12:18. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was alerted at 12:23 and the R175 rescue helicopter at 12:29. Both arrived at the scene by 12.49pm. The RNLI crew boarded and attempted to free the skipper from the winch. During this attempt, the winch activated without warning and released the skipper, who then fell to the deck. The RNLI crew performed CPR and a paramedic from the R175 helicopter was lowered onto the vessel. Despite resuscitation attempts, Babington was pronounced dead at 13:05.
Results of the investigation
The "Mollie" was taken to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. On 6 August 2025, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) carried out a preliminary investigation, which included a survey of the scene of the accident, tests of the aft winches and an inspection of the switches and power supply. The preliminary investigation concluded that the skipper died after his right hand was caught in the rope that was wrapped around the inner aft winch and wrapped around the winch.
The investigation confirmed the known defect in the control switch of the inner winch, which could cause the winch to continue running after the switch had already been released. In addition, the MAIB found that there was no local emergency stop switch for the aft winches and no means of isolating the winches from the vessel's 24 volt DC system. In order to cut the power supply to the winches, the entire 24-volt system would have had to be shut down by switching off the batteries in the forward cabin of the "Mollie".
The electric winch had probably been installed by a small shipyard and the installation was not mass-produced. No further action was taken after the incident.
