report on chicago 2011 race tragedy...

eagleswing

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during the chicago-mackinac 2011 race on the great lakes, 2 were lost and drowned off a sailboat , a 'kiwi 35' which capsized in a 60 knot storm. interesting facts for those who don't want to read the whole 70 page report:

--2 teenaged crew climbed aboard the upturned hull and successfully signalled with whistles and lights to passing yachts;

--the capsized boat had a very low angle of stability of about 100 degrees..once it got to below 100 degrees it turned turtle and did not come up, and 2 crew were drowned underneath the boat;

--SPOT rescue signals carried by 2 crew were very good and alerted the US coast guard who unfortunately was 2 hrs away..

-- race organizers in the future will not be allowing certain boats of these same designs into races,,,

i'll be checking my whistles and lights

full report at http://media.ussailing.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=16940
 
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