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Sail-World.com : Second Chance crew to be awarded Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal

Second Chance crew to be awarded Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal

'Second Chance crew - Transpacific Yacht Race 2011'    US Sailing ©

The Transpacific Yacht Race crew aboard 44-foot sloop Second Chance, will be awarded the Hanson Rescue Medal by US Sailing. This comes after the nine person crew rescued a kayaker as they approached the finish line of the 2011 edition of the race in Diamond Head, Hawaii on the 19th July.

The Second Chance crew consisted of Sauer, skipper Harry Krum (Oxnard, Calif.), Charles Clark, Mary Howard, Curt Ingram, Thomas Andrews, Graham Paine, Edward Atwell, and Randall Alcorn.

After 2,225 miles and two weeks of hard racing at sea, Second Chance’s crew was looking for the red finish line buoy when they spotted a red object in the water. As they approached the object, it became clear this was no buoy but a kayaker. Guy Wilding, the USA Canoe/Kayak National Coach, had broken his paddle on the back of a sea turtle, fallen out of the kayak, and been swimming for four hours.

As Second Chance crew member Mary Howard observed, 'It's a good thing he was wearing red. We were looking for a red buoy.'

Sauer and his crew were not about to give Wilding a wave and sail on to finish the race. The Racing Rules of Sailing are in full conformance with the best traditions of the sea. Rule 1 states, 'A boat or competitor shall give all possible help to any person or vessel in danger.'

The crew was well prepared to handle this situation. 'Several of our crew attended a Safety-at-Sea seminar in Long Beach the day before the race,' said Clark. 'Harry, our skipper, assigned each crew member specific positions and responsibilities for the ‘battle stations’ and ‘man overboard’ commands.'

A spotter was posted to point at Wilding. The sails came down and the engine was started. A life buoy was thrown, and in a timely manner, Wilding was safely on board Second Chance and on his way to a reunion with his wife on shore, who had been trying to get local authorities to begin a search.

'What I learned from this incident is how important it is to include safety precautions with kayaks or PWCs,' said Clark.

'At a minimum, the victim should have had a PFD and some sort of signaling device. I saw, first hand, how easy it is to lose visual contact with a person or object in the water when a boat is traveling over six knots in heavy seas. By the time we dropped the spinnaker pole and came about, we briefly lost visual contact with the victim. Fortunately, we had several spotters pointing in his direction and, consequently, we were able to regain visual contact very quickly.'

Second Chance got a second chance in the race. After hauling Wilding on board, the crew found the red buoy and crossed the finish line. After the race committee gave them redress for the time they had spent saving a life, they finished sixth in the Transpac’s Aloha Division.

The Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal is awarded by US Sailing’s Safety-at-Sea Committee to any person who rescues or endeavors to rescue any other person from drowning, shipwreck, or other perils at sea within the territorial waters of the United States, or as part of a sailboat race or voyage that originated or stopped in the U.S. Since it was established in 1990 by friends of the late Mr. Hanson, an ocean-racing sailor from the Chesapeake Bay, the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal has been presented to more than 180 boats.

US Sailing Website




by Jake Fish

  

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10:54 PM Tue 22 Nov 2011 GMT



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