Below Deck Sailing Yacht: Colin Macrae Admits the Crew Has No Idea Why the Boat Malfunctioned

Chief engineer Colin Macrae from Below Deck Sailing Yacht shared that even to this day, the crew has no idea why the boat malfunctioned, backing into the dock with such force, it smashed the concrete.

The most shocking boat crash in Below Deck history resulted from the perfect storm – a dead boat and intense wind squalls. Captain Glenn Shephard realized the boat lost all power while Macrae was running an errand in town. Thankfully first mate Gary King got the boat back online. But the boat lost power again when Shephard tried to dock the yacht. Macrae says the crew still has no idea why the boat malfunctioned.

‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’ boat malfunction was one of the craziest moments in Colin Macrae’s career

Macrae teased the episode, which proved to be one of the most dramatic episodes of the season. “One of the craziest moments of my superyacht career was when we reversed straight into the dock, and it was all captured on tonight’s episode of Below Deck,” Macrae shared on Instagram hours before the episode aired.

“To this day we have no idea what exactly went wrong,” he admitted. “Which kinda sucks because if we knew why, we would be able to fix whatever went wrong. It’s like when your computer sometimes freezes without any warning or explanation. Just terrible luck I guess…”

Captain Glenn Shephard told Showbiz Cheat Sheet he’s had issues with the yacht losing power in the past. But, “I’ve never had an issue with the result like we had,” he said. “And you can tell I was quite upset about it. I’ve never had that kind of result, but I’ve definitely had issues before where I’ve lost everything. The engines shut down. I have no thrusters, nothing. And that can be a little nerve-wracking.”

Weather conditions can seriously impact the boat’s position too

Shephard believes he had too much momentum when he came toward the dock. “But there was a malfunction involved,” he continued. “I was telling the boat to do one thing and it wasn’t responding in the correct way. There was a throttle malfunction. There are computers involved in the throttle controls and the propeller and it’s balancing the load on the engine. And I may have over-stressed it or something and it couldn’t respond. Unfortunately, I had too much momentum.”

It also appears that the weather was not on the crew’s side either. The winds suddenly picked up during the earlier snafu with the sailing yacht. The deck crew was seen standing on the dock, trying to push the boat away from the dock, hoping to avoid having it grind against the concrete.

Captain Sandy Yawn from Below Deck Mediterranean said winds in the Med can be particularly unpredictable. She recounted to Showbiz Cheat Sheet in 2019 when she’s experienced 70 to 100-knot winds in the Med “from nowhere on a clear day. Adding, “It’s like the mountains burped,” she said. “It’s so weird. It was 100 knots of wind for 15 minutes. But then it calmed right now. But the Med is really unpredictable.”