Blakely Rock Benefit Regatta

Correction: A previous version of this post said that the yacht Aquavit lost crew overboard. It did not. It abandoned the race and helped in the recovery of the persons overboard. My apologies to the skipper and crew of Aquavit. This story is still evolving and I hope to get the facts straight soon. KH

If there is a race that signifies the best of Seattle Sailing, this is probably it. By the best, it doesn’t mean the most important or competitive. It does mean fun, inclusiveness, sportsmanship and dose of PNW weather, which can be benign or sporty. Saturday’s Blakely Rock Benefit Race was sporty. So sporty, in fact, a serious rescue was required. Fellow racers, of course, were up for it. More on that later. Results, if you must.

First, we get the photos from our hero Jan Anderson. See the rest of a large album here.

Now, let’s look at inclusiveness. BRBR is a “fun” enough race kids are welcomed. Since this found its way to Youtube from Grady Morgan’s boat, I figure it’s OK to show here. And how did they finish? Better question, who cares?

And now for the sportsmanship and safety issues. This speaks to our great community. During one of the puffs on the return leg from the Rock, the Folkboat Aquavit and other vessels dropped out of the race to help crew overboard situations. Note that the details are still coming together. It’s known that the Seattle Sailing Club boat Avalanche was able to cover the crew overboard. I also heard a firsthand account that one of the overboard crew was in seriously rough shape before rescue. 50-degree water will do that. I’ll let Sloop Tavern Yacht Club Commodore Mike Scribner’s letter to STYC members explain what is known so far.

Hello Sloopers,

Writing to let you know the status of our fellow sailors who were part of the Crew Overboard (CoB) incident during this weekend’s Carol Pearl Blakely Rock Benefit Race. All individuals who were in the water were recovered successfully and transported to on-shore emergency medical services as necessary. All have recovered fully.

A brief recap of what occurred: (This is based on our best current understanding, and is subject to adjustment as we learn more.)

• There were three CoB calls within several minutes of each other from three separate vessels participating in the event.
• 1 of the CoB Calls was withdrawn almost immediately by the vessel as a crew member was found below in the cabin after a crew count occurred.
• 1 vessel was able to self-recover their crew member who was overboard.
• 1 vessel had 3 crew members in the water
  • CoB calls were made by the involved vessel.
  • The Coast Guard and Seattle Fire responded immediately.
  • Several event participants immediately retired and/or lowered their sails in order to provide search and recovery assistance.
  • 1 event participant  began coordinating the response via radio with the Coast Guard and Seattle Fire & Rescue.
  • Several event participants attempted to recover individuals in the water, but due to mechanical limitations and higher free-boards, only one vessel was able to recover all three persons in the water.
• The recovering vessel was towed into Shilshole Bay by Seattle Fire & Rescue with the crew and recovered COBs on board.
  • All three individuals were transported to a medical facility and eventually released.
• All have recovered fully as of this communication.

I want to take a moment to commend the actions of several vessels that were in the race who immediately responded in an attempt to render assistance.

• S/V Avalanche – Skipper: Jean-Piere Boespflug – This was the vessel that was ultimately able to recover all of the individuals who were in the water.
• S/V Irie – Skipper: George Dowding – This was the vessel that conducted a substantial amount of on-scene coordination with the Coast Guard and Seattle Fire & Rescue.

This CoB incident could have ended very differently, but did not because of the heroic actions of the vessels, skippers, and crews above. If you see any of these individuals out in our community; please thank them for their quick response in an emergency situation. If you see them at the Sloop; buy them a beer. They deserve that and more. 

A number of other vessels also ceased racing and attempted to render assistance to the individuals in the water. Their actions are also commendable and should be recognized for their efforts. These vessels are: 

• S/V Those Guys – Skipper: Tim Huse
• S/V 20 Degrees – Skipper: Duncan Chalmers
• S/V Gusto – Skipper: Beth Miller
• S/V Perfectly Strange – Skipper: Paul Kalina
• S/V Aquavit – Skipper: Dave Sinson
• S/V Impulsive – Skipper: Ulf Georg Gwildis

There may have been other vessels involved; our understanding of the incident and all boats on scene is developing. If you have more information; please reach out to Commodore@styc.org.

Additionally; we as a club and the broader community must acknowledge and thank the professional & volunteer first responders who were on scene within minutes. This included response teams from the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, Seattle Harbor Patrol Fire & Rescue, and the Seattle Fire Department. Their response in these situations is critical to saving lives.

Moving Forward:

At this time we are working with all individuals known to be involved in the CoB incidents to fully understand the timeline and circumstances that lead up to these events. As we work with those individuals more information may be released; we ask for your patience as we work through our response. There have already been a number of posts on social media and email threads being passed back and forth on the incident. Information sharing is always encouraged, but I ask that we respect the process and the privacy of the individuals involved.

STYC is committed to putting on safe events and part of that commitment is taking the time to learn everything we can from accidents when they happen. Once we fully understand what transpired, a report will be presented to the STYC Executive Board for review and eventually released to general membership and CPBRBR Participants. The objective of this process is to identify any specific actions that STYC can take as a club to improve safety as well as identifying opportunities to educate our members, and other sailors in the community, on safety best practices, risk identification, management, and mitigation. Sailing is an inherently dangerous sport, even on the calmest days. A 100% mitigation of risk would likely mean never going out at all…In lieu of that; we can prepare ourselves with the right tools, the right training, and the right mindset.

If you have any additional information regarding the incident this weekend, have any questions, or are interested in being part of the safety review process. Please let me know. Commodore@styc.org

Kurt Hoehne

Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.