Tragic Lightship Race - San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO - Tragedy struck in the San Francisco Bay this weekend during the Doublehanded Lightship Race.
Rescuers have recovered the body of 72 year old Anthony Harrow, one of two sailors onboard the sailing vessel "Daisy." The 32-foot Cheoy Lee sailboat was reported overdue at 6 p.m. on Saturday after it did not return from the "Doublehanded Lightship Race" that concluded at 4 p.m. The Coast Guard and partner agencies launched a rearch on Saturday night that lasted until Sunday evening. Search and rescue units involved in the case on Sunday included a C-130 fixed-wing aircraft, an HH-65 Dolphin Helicopter, an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat, and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat. The Coast Guard also deployed Self Locating Data Marker Buoys in the search area to assist in gauging wind and current effect.
At approximately 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Coast Guard search and rescue units reported finding debris floating west of the Golden Gate Bridge, approximately 4.7 nautical miles southeast of the position where the sailing vessel was last sighted. The debris fit the description of the overdue sailing vessel "Daisy." At approximately 11 a.m. the San Mateo County Sherriff's Department discovered the body of an adult Caucasian male wearing a lifejacket in the vicinity of Moss Beach. The man has been identified by the San Mateo coroner as Anthony Harrow, and next of kin has been notified.
The Coast Guard continued to search for the second individual, identified as 67 year old Kirby Gale, until 6:00 p.m. Sunday evening. The US Coast Guard now suspended the search based upon a lack of new information, and an extremely low probability of survival due to water temperature and sea state. The Coast Guard initially estimated that, given the water temperature, the two sailors would have 4.6 hours of projected survivability time.
Photo: Peter Lyons lyonsimaging.com - The 2008 Doublehanded Lightship Race, conditions outside the Golden Gate.
Submitted By YachtPals on 17 Mar
san francisco, san francisco bay, Lightship race, , doublehanded lightship race, sailing, san francisco sailboat, boat, boat, sailboats, sailboat
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Boating and Sailing Magazine Feed
Loss of s/v Daisy in Doublehanded Lightship
It's all too easy to forget that yacht racing is an extreme and hazardous sport, particularly (as in this case) shorthanded, and that conditions outside San Francisco Bay can be treacherous -- we've lost a number of good, well-sailed boats in the past few years. A friend of mine lost his J/35 in a quite similar way a few years ago, but was lucky enough to survive along with his partner.
In this latest incident there was apparently no EPIRB signal, so it's likely there was no automatic EPIRB properly mounted and ready, which might well have alerted the USCG fast enough to save lives. There's been discussion of making EPIRB mandatory in ocean races, but no action thus far, even though cost is now quite reasonable (as little as $500). Hopefully this tragic incident will improve the chances of making EPIRB mandatory in ocean races, preferably automatic EPIRB properly mounted and ready.
-John Navas
http://sail.navas.us
Not the first time a yacht has been lost in this race!
What everyone I've talked to seems to have missed is that this isn't the first time that a yacht has been lost in the Doublehanded Lightship race, making this even more of a wakeup call: J/35 Jammin was lost in much the same way in 2003, except the two crew, thrown out of the boat because they weren't tethered in, were lucky enough to be able to pull themselves back on board and survive -- see "YOUR HUSBAND IS OK THIS TIME, TOO" in Latitude 38 Letters, and aftermath pictures in 'Lectronic Latitude.
This weekend is the Doublehanded Farallones race, sponsored by BAMA, which sponsored the tragic Doublehanded Lightship race, and there's still not even a recommendation for EPIRB, much less a requirement.
The reason EPIRB isn't required for OYRA racing is that YRA specifically waives the EPIRB requirement from ISAF Category 2 requirements (4.19.1). I think that waiver should be eliminated forthwith.
--
John Navas
http://sail.navas.us
Ocean racing safety
Interesting John. I didn't know there was another problem during the lightship race in 2003. How terrible that the lesson was not learned the first time.
Time for the race committees to buy some EPIRB's to rent out for their close to home ocean races (the manufacturerers could offer clubs the units at discount as a PR campaign). If these boats would have had EPIRBs with static releases in the cockpits, at least we would have been able to respond sooner. It is simply horrible that these guys were going down while boats were not 10 minutes from their location! Had an EPIRB been activated a boat could have been at the site within a matter of minutes.
Hours before discovering a boat is lost in a race so close to home is totally ridiculous giving the technology that is available today.
Let see if we can pressure race committees to have both VHF radios with DSC (read story here: http://yachtpals.com/boating/dsc-vhf) and EPIRB'S during the next lightship race.
With the Farallones ocean race just around the corner, we all hope these lessons don't have to be learned again. Time to take action before we lose another sailor outside the gate.
Firsthand Perspective
I know this isn't what most of you want to hear but, in my opinion, an EPIRB wouldn't have changed the outcome of that weekend at all. First off, it's a universal truth that you cannot buy safety. Companies sell safety and peace of mind but it's an illusion. The reality is, once an EPIRB signal is received the cavalry doesn't jump on their horses and take off. The first thing that happens is a phone call is made to the registered owner. Assuming Mrs. Gale was home to take the call, it still probably would have taken over an hour before the first Coastie stepped on the rescue boat. Even if the two men weren't injured in whatever catastrophe happened, they would likely have succumbed to hypothermia before the CG reached them.
We do know Daisy was equipped with a very sophisticated DSC radio so whatever happened to them happened so fast that they weren't even able to flick the switch on it. Even if they had used the radio and the nearest boat (which we believe to have been our boat) could have responded immediately, remember that we were running with 25 knot winds (gusts to 35) and 10-12' seas. They may have been only 10 minutes behind us - if we'd stopped and they caught up - but it would have taken us nearly an hour to beat back to them, and that doesn't mean we could have even spotted them, considering the sea state. At one point mid-race, we had boats right next to us completely disappear in the troughs.
If we'd had any idea there was a problem, we would have turned around immediately but there was just no indication that anything was wrong. While the conditions were challenging, at no time during the race did we feel concerned for our safety. It was a fun ride and we were vigilant but we had a great time. Until we heard what happened later that night.
People always want to find fault when things like this happen. They want answers and want to "fix" the problem. You have to remember that every skipper in that race made a decision to sail. It's a personal decision and that's the beauty of sailboat racing. We don't have umpires or referees. Remember that we're dealing with the ocean here and the ocean has been destroying things man has made for as long as man's built them. The only people responsible for our personal safety is ourselves. If buying an EPIRB and liferaft makes you feel safe, by all means, do so. But don't rely on them to keep you safe.
I'd also like to touch on the unfair coverage IYC received from the mainstream media. Their comments seemed to be deliberately taken out of context to make them seem insensitive and uncaring. I can tell you, because I talked to them that night, that they were besides themselves with fear for the crew of Daisy. And please remember that boats drop out of races without contacting the race committee EVERY RACE. 99.9% of the time, they're tied up at Sams having drinks.
The long and short of it is that I still don't believe EPIRBs should be required on ocean races. Part of the appeal of ocean racing is taking personal responsibility for ourselves. If that includes EPIRBs, great. If not, that's an individual's decision.
Not good reasons not to require EPIRB
Robert (svsilentsun),
I'm actually happy to hear what you and others have to say, whether I agree or not -- my mind is always open.
After careful consideration, here's my response:
* I think it's quite clear that you can buy safety: yacht maintenance, safety gear, safety training, etc. Too many skippers compromise safety by cutting corners.
* I think it likely that EPIRB would have saved the crew of s/v Daisy, and saved considerable fruitless searching as well. My own experience is that EPIRB response is fast enough this close to the Bay to recover the crew before they succomb to hypothermia. The alert goes out within a very few minutes, and the local USCG response is fast.
* I think it likely that the crew of s/v Daisy were not tethered in, thrown out of the boat, and thus unable to activate their VHF radio. If true, that's a bigger problem than not having EPIRB. This is part of why I personally think PLB is better than EPIRB.
* How do we know they had a "very sophisticated DSC radio"? What was the make and model? What was the GPS? How do we know it was connected properly?
* Any boat receiving a nearby distress call would be required to respond immediately, dropping sails and switching to power, so a slow beat back wouldn't be a factor. If you're not going to do that, then (and with all due respect) you shouldn't be racing.
* If DSC or EPIRB are activated, then location shouldn't be an issue.
* It's not a matter of finding fault -- it's a matter of learning from tragic experience. Otherwise the same mistakes get repeated.
* We do have "umpires and referrees", albeit called race committee, judges and juries, not to mention other competitors.
* I don't think the coverage I've seen of IYC has been unfair, except that BAMA should share the responsibility. Much the same thing happened five years ago, but nothing changed, and now it's happened again. Being remorseful after the fact is no substitute for taking proper precautions.
* I can't speak with regard to BAMA (the governing body for this event), but my experience is that OYRA yacht checkins are good. Regardless, it's no reason not to take lack of checkin very seriously.
* This isn't just a personal issue -- actions of the skipper affect the crew, family and friends, other boats, event organizers, the USCG, and taxpayers.
* Skippers take their lead from regulations -- that EPIRB isn't required makes too many skippers think it's not worth having.
* ISAF requires EPIRB for Category 2 events. The problem is that YRA waives that requirement, likewise BAMA, which I think has clearly been shown to be a tragic mistake.
Lastly, you didn't answer my DNR challenge -- since you don't want safety regulations, are you willing to forego having the rest of us pay to rescue you?
--
John Navas
http://sail.navas.us
Post new comment