The answer to this lies in the statement, "the line snaps" and "storm" which is something that is not in the control of the large yacht owner. Once the storm came up and the yacht captain realized he must pull anchor and leave the area he had a duty to the small boat to either do so without damage to the small boat or to cut the small boat loose to weather the storm if the yacht could not engage in a tow safely. The intervening cause here is the rope breaking and the storm which was likely the cause of the snapping rope, which was provided by the small boat owner. Thus, in this instance the yacht owner would not be liable for the small boat based upon there being no negligence on the part of the yacht owner that was the cause of the small boat being set adrift, it was the superceding intervening cause of the rope breaking and the storm (act of God) that was the cause.

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No, there was no such obligation to place the line, UNLESS it was obvious from the condition of the rope that it was not sufficient to safely moor the boat, but still this obligation is on the owner of the small vessel.