THE drivers of a jet-ski and speedboat were both responsible for a serious collision which left a lawyer with life-changing leg injuries, the Royal Court has ruled.
Tyson Flath was in control of the Seadoo GTX jet-ski on 9 July 2017 when the incident occurred. Giles Corbin, who was a passenger, was thrown into the water and seriously injured when the craft collided with a 17-foot Fletcher speedboat driven by Michal Bartolomiej Dorynek.
Mr Dorynek has already admitted liability for the incident. However, Mr Corbin argued that both drivers were negligent.
The Royal Court ruled that Mr Flath was 40% responsible while Mr Dorynek was found to be 60% responsible for the collision.
On the day of the accident, Mr Corbin, an advocate, had spent time in St Brelade’s Bay with friends on a boat and planned to visit the Royal Jersey Golf Club in Grouville at 5.30pm to attend a prize-giving ceremony.
Although he had intended to take a taxi to his car, which was parked at the Harbour, he instead accepted an offer by Mr Flath to ferry him to St Helier on the jet-ski and the pair left at around 4pm.
At the same time, Mr Dorynek was on his boat, Severe Attitude, and had just picked up passengers from near the Oyster Box restaurant. He estimated his speed had been around 15 knots (17mph) and said that he had completed a number of zig-zags to amuse two children who were on board.
Mr Dorynek said that he had tried to wave his hands and shout to warn the jet-ski users about the impending incident and tried to turn to starboard to pass behind the small craft but there was a collision, forcing his boat’s bow into the air. None of the vessel’s passengers were wearing life jackets and the ‘kill cord’ on the speedboat was disabled.
A recently published Royal Court judgment said that Mr Flath should have periodically looked around him.
‘He was therefore negligent in the way he carried out this lookout. On his own admission, once he had increased speed and was running in a straight line, Mr Flath did not look astern (to the rear of the jet-ski) or towards his quarter and we find that he should have done. He was exiting a busy bay and proper seamanship required him to keep a periodic all-round lookout.
‘His failure to do so after he increased speed to 17 knots meant that he fell below the standard of a reasonably prudent and careful driver of a jet-ski in the circumstances of this case,’ the judgment said.
It added: ‘All the experts agreed that in these two situations, he failed to keep a proper lookout in accordance with Rule 5 [keeping proper a lookout].
‘Given that he was exiting from a busy bay at some speed, we find that his failure to keep a proper lookout so as to avoid the risk of collision was negligent.’
A 2019 criminal case resulted in Mr Dorynek pleading guilty to violating shipping laws in relation to the incident and being fined £5,000 by the Royal Court.
