Drink-drive boat limits urged after fatal crash

Legal loopholes which allow people to be drunk in charge of pleasure boats should be closed in the wake of a fatal crash, a report has said.

William Blake, 61, from Portsmouth, and Gary Huntington, 60, from Emsworth, died when their speeding rigid inflatable boat (RIB) hit a navigation marker in Portsmouth Harbour in August 2025.

Boat owner Blake and his two friends had been drinking all day and none of the three men were wearing flotation aids, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said.

It urged the government to close a "long-standing regulatory gap with no enforceable alcohol limits for non‑professional mariners".

The boat - Peaky Blinder - hit the wooden post at about 19:25 BST on 24 August, throwing all three men overboard.

Its speed was 33.5 knots (38.5mph), more than three times the harbour speed limit, the MAIB said.

The surviving passenger, a 56-year-old man from West Sussex, rescued Huntington, who was unconscious, but saw Blake submerge.

Huntington was pronounced dead in hospital and Blake's body was found five days later. The cause of death in each case was both drowning and head injuries, the MAIB said.

The three friends had spent the day drinking in various locations in the Solent and the Isle of Wight, according to the MAIB report.

By late afternoon, Blake was "noticeably unsteady on his feet" and Huntington accidentally fell into the water while boarding the boat.

The RIB veered outside the navigation channel near Tipner and hit the beacon as the owner corrected course, investigators said.

When Blake's body was recovered, his blood alcohol level was found to be 198 mg/dL - well above the vehicle drink-drive limit of 80 mg/dL in England and Wales.

The proposed UK leisure boat limit is 50 mg/dL.

The MAIB said key parts of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, which would cover drink-driving of pleasure boats, had not been brought into force along with the limits for professional mariners.

Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents Rob Loder said: "The introduction of alcohol limits for recreational boaters has been the subject of previous MAIB recommendations.

"It is to be hoped that action will now be taken, such that fatal accidents in which excessive alcohol consumption is a contributing factor become a thing of the past."

The British Ports Association said it had been campaigning on the issue for two decades.

Chief executive Richard Ballantyne said: "The evidence has been under review for long enough.

"We should not wait for another fatal accident before closing a loophole that should never have remained open."

Following the tragedy, Blake's partner Kala Kilshaw said she had launched a maritime safety campaign and designed a lifejacket in his name.

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