YACHT unravelled an outrageous case in issue 21/2012. During the reconstruction of an SKS examination cruise on the Salona 45 "Special One", in which the co-skipper lost his life, dubious practices were revealed - and the information that became public at the time fuelled a serious suspicion: apparently, in the catchment area of the Rhine Ruhr Examination Board, sports boat licences were being issued without the required proof of performance. To put it simply: Whoever paid got the licence.
This suspicion now seems to have been confirmed. After the Central Administration Office of the German Sailing Association (DSV) investigated the case and provisionally suspended the examiners directly involved, they have now been permanently removed from office by the steering committee responsible for driving licence issues.
As a result, according to the DSV, the chairman of the Rhine-Ruhr examination board, Dr Sven Dreyer, resigned on Monday "for personal reasons". He had signed the unauthorised certificates.
The Rhine Ruhr Audit Committee can now be found at the following new address:
Elisabeth-Selbert-Str. 19
40764 Langenfeld
Phone: 02173/9639322
Fax: 02173/9639323
On training trip no. 59 of the Xanten yacht school Nautilus, which triggered the investigation, 58-year-old co-skipper Hans-Herbert Strunz, a sturdy man and former air force pilot, went overboard off Fehmarn on 30 April 2011. He drowned in front of his completely overwhelmed co-sailors.
The Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation has published a very interesting report on the case, click here.
