Safety first....we should all share these stories.
June 2015, on the 2nd day of the Ottawa Catamaran & Skiff Grand Prix, with good E winds around 12 knots, gusting 18, and rain, rain, rain. My son and I started the first race, beating upwind. The rain was so hard, we could not see the weather mark. The gusts were punishing, and boats were capsizing everywhere. Later, an I-14 broke a daggerboard while wave jumping, and another I-14 broke their gooseneck. Dave and Martin K (no relation) were thrown across the tramp on their first tack, and broke the carbon fibre hiking stick on their C-2 F18.
I knew that if we could just finish the racing, we would be on the podium. Alas, on the second upwind, son Martin goes out on the wire, and SNAP, the trap rope lets go at the J&H handle, and he disappears off the boat with a huge splash. There was no way that the crash boat could even see us, and I recognized the challenge - keep the boat upright, and do the 'man overboard' drill. Two minutes later, in 3' of chop, I picked up a wet and bedraggled sailor, who was in no shape to swim the mile or more to shore. Of course, he was wearing a PFD, for without it, the ending would have been very different.
As I used to tell my sailing students, "it's hard to stay afloat if you are unconcious".
_________________ 2015 H16, with spin, SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..." 'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'
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