A Royal Navy lieutenant who was ordered to pay £100,000 in costs after crashing a racing yacht into a 870ft long oil tanker has had the bill halved on appeal.
Roland Wilson, 32, of Stanley, Perthshire, negligently allowed his yacht Atalanta of Chester to collide with the Hanne Knutsen after he saw it from five miles away.
Footage of the incident - at Cowes Week racing regatta on August 6, 2011 - has been seen more than one million times on YouTube.
The yacht's experienced crew, with serving and retired Royal Navy officers, had failed to anticipate the tanker's movements.
The married father-of-one was convicted of three charges of contravening naval regulations while responsible for a vessel at the Isle of Wight event.
A judge ordered him to pay £100,056.68 in prosecution costs and £3000 in fines on October 25 last year.
Wilson, will now pay £50,000 in costs after an appeal at Southampton Magistrates' Court.
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