On august 31, 2013, operator1 was backing her 37 foot sail boat away from a boat slip in river dunes harbor under the supervision of sailing instructor.  While backing away from the dock, operator1 began to place the vessel in the forward gear and noticed that the vessel was not making the change from the reverse gear to the forward position, thus the throttle cable was not working.  instructor began to notice what was taking place and tried to help but was not able to fix the problem before colliding with Operator2's vessel.  When the collision too place, Operator2, owner of vessel 2, was knocked off of his feet and sustained minor bruising.  During the investigation, we found where some throttle cable connectors had failed.  Minor scratches were found on operator1's vessel.  Operator2's vessel sustained substantial fiberglass cracking along with damage to the vessel's life boat.  Both vessel owners were insured by the same insurance agency and during the investigation, both parties were very polite and cooperative.  No citations were issued.
ORIENTAL