It seems that Tony Buckingham, owner of “The Beast” Ngoni, has no love for racing dinghies in his exclusion zone. In July a 420 sailing out of Courageous Sailing Center for Youth, the well-known and well-regarded nonprofit sailing center in Boston, Massachusetts, allegedly scratched Buckingham’s $50 million sailing yacht, and it looks like the oil executive is trying to get even. Courageous has filed a limitation of liability action in federal court, using an obscure 1851 law to limit their liability for the allision to the value of the 420, estimated at $1,000. If successful, then despite all the lawyers’ fees in the world Courageous would not have to pay more than $1,000 to repair the damages Ngoni allegedly suffered.

The case is currently pending before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Case No. 1:19-CV-10137-DPW).

For more information on Admiralty and Maritime Law, click here.
For more information on Limitation of Liability, click here.
You can read the Petition for Limitation here.

We will keep you updated as the case developes.


Image Courtesy of Courageous Sailing

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