A skipper who steered a New Year’s Eve cruise into a sandbank has given a bizarre reason for why he got so drunk – claiming he thought his alcoholic beverages was a soft drink.
Cruise captain Keith Francis Tamati Tarapipipi-Kippenberger was almost three times over the limit crashed his vessel into a sandbank in the Gold Coast Broadwater, near Main Beach, during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
About 120 revellers were forced to ring in 2024 on the stranded boat, sparking a mass marine rescue.
Queensland’s Southport Magistrates Court was told on Tuesday that water police received several reports about the skipper, including suspicions he had been drinking.
Defence lawyer Clancy Robba told the court Tarapipipi-Kippenberger did not realise until later the ‘number of soft drinks’ he had that night were actually alcoholic Hard Solos.
Cruise captain Keith Francis Tamati Tarapipipi-Kippenberger (right) said he thought the alcoholic Hard Solo he was drinking was lemon soft drink
Tarapipipi-Kippenberger was found to be almost three times the legal drinking limit when he crashed a cruise vessel carrying more than 100 passengers into a sandbank during Gold Coast New Year’s Eve celebrations
Tarapipipi-Kippenberger was charged after he was breath-tested and recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.149.
Hard Solo is the alcoholic counterpart to lemon soft drink Solo but has a 4.5 per cent alcohol concentration – which is about 1.3 standard drinks per can.
The alcoholic beverage, which uses similar branding to Solo, will soon be forced to change its name to ‘Hard Rated’ after regulators received a handful of complaints it could be confused with the soft drink.
The skipper remained silent as a reporter hit him with a barrage of questions while leaving the court.
‘Do you have anything to say about what you did?,’ Channel Seven reporter Mel Wightman asked.
‘Do you understand how dangerous it is operate a boat drunk?
‘Do you really think that people would believe that you didn’t know you were drinking? You were almost three times the legal limit.’
Hard Solo was a massive hit at last year’s Schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast. Schoolie Lucas, above, with a big crate
Rhyce, Sabian, James and Will cracked open cans of Hard Solo along the Surfers Paradise strip during the celebrations
Mr Robba explained his client had a few drinks the day prior to the event and also onboard the boat that night.
‘He’s never done anything like this before – he’s ashamed and embarrassed about the offence,’ Mr Robba told the court, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin.
However, Magistrate Mark Bamberry was not convinced by the skipper’s mix-up, claiming the story was ‘difficult to believe’.
‘It’s not as if you’re on a jetski … you’ve got 120 odd people on board plus your crew, and I’m told you’re drinking Hard Solo and didn’t know the difference,’ Mr Bamberry said.
Tarapipipi-Kippenberger pleaded guilty to one charge of mid-range drink driving, was fined $2,000 and had his marine licence disqualified for three months.
Mr Robba explained Tarapipipi-Kippenberger’s reputation has been ‘severely damaged’ which has made it hard for the FIFO worker to find boating contracts.
He added the incident was also being investigated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
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There is a difference: Hard Solo (left) is the alcoholic counterpart to lemon soft drink Solo (right) but has a 4.5 per cent alcohol concentration – which is about 1.3 standard drinks per can
