Collision during Newport-Ensenada Race

-from SA & MSNBC and other sources:

Wreckage of the Aegean (a Hunter 376) and three of the four crewmen's bodies have been found. Search initiated after they disappeared from the race tracking system. Suspect a "collision with a much larger vessel". Winds and swells were reported to have been light.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...ent-during-newport-ensenada-sailing-race?lite
http://www.sfgate.co...51D25.DTL&tsp=1
http://www.latimes.c...0,7059481.story
http://www.foxnews.c...nia-yacht-race/

Rich Roberts:
http://www.thedailys...t-ensenada-race

 

Best estimate now is that it wasn't a collision, but a grounding on North Coronado island. Tracking system on board (SPOT) shows them going straight into it. Estimated point of impact is a rock cliff. Looong thread on Sailing Anarchy, plus article on front page.

Earl

 

More from Scuttlebutt, including the plots:

SPOT TRACKING

Tracking devices has gained acceptance in the sport, providing online
updates of competing boats in a race. These trackers are provided by the
race organizer, but the option of tracking exists for personal use too.
From backpackers to offroad enthusiasts, pilots to snowmobilers, the safety
of carrying a tracking device is available for purchase from most
electronic retailers.

Sorting through the tragic incident involving a 37-foot Hunter 376 Aegean
during the Newport to Ensenada Race, it was learned they were caring a
personal SPOT tracker. The final moments of their race clearly show on
Google Maps their path sent them directly into North Coronado Island, one
of four islands 8 miles off the northwest coast of the Mexican state of
Baja California.

Aegean was entered in the cruising division which allowed motoring. Their
progress, presumably under sail, had slowed by Friday evening. Just before
10pm, their progress increased, presumably now under power, and remained
steady until the tracker stopped at the Coronados at 1:36am on Saturday.

"From their SPOT position reports," explained San Diego navigator Artie
Means, "I was able to plot their coordinates and determine their speed.
Looking at this track, it appears they drove right into North Coronado.
Pretty consistent course and velocity (+/- 7 knots), and definitely in one
piece under motor until it stopped."

While that would seemingly end the mystery, and dispute the theory that
Aegean collided with a large ship, questions remain about the condition of
the boat and bodies. Eric Lamb, Master Captain for Vessel Assist, was the
first to find the wreckage Saturday morning, describing how it looked as if
the boat had "gone through a blender" - too small to suggest a collision
with rocks.

The San Diego County medical examiner said Monday night that Kevin Eric
Rudolph, 53, of Manhattan Beach, died of blunt force injuries to his head
and neck; William Reed Johnson Jr., 57, of Torrance, Calif., died of
multiple blunt force injuries; and Joseph Lester Stewart, 64, of Bradenton,
Fla., drowned. The boat's skipper was missing.

So the question remains...with winds under five knots, could a collision
with the island cause such a significant result?

Artie's plots:http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13678#13678

Race Tracker from SA front page-
click on image:

 

Heavy swell (estimates 4-8 feet), vertical rock face, lightly constructed boat. Debris field sighted after boat pounded to pieces. Very sad.

Earl

 

-------------------
Sure is. I read somewhere that they were in the cruiser division that allowed the motor to run and that there was evidence on the tracking that they had started the thing and were doing 7 knots when they hit the rock....

 

Last body finally recovered by fishermen. Most plausible explanation is that the skipper (the one just recovered) was standing solo watch while others slept below and fell overboard. The boat was running under power and on autopilot and went straight for the rock. Since it is unlikely (although possible) that the skipper would have set a waypoint on the rock, an alternate explanation is that the waypoint was set for the destination at Ensenada while the electronic chart was zoomed out to a degree that made the rocks invisible. Thus no one noticed the track went through them.

Earl

 

Thanks-what a shame.....

 

Follow up on "SPOT" from Scuttlebut tonight:

AEGEAN SPOT DISTRESS SIGNAL DETAILS EMERGE

By Darrell Nicholson, Practical Sailor
If you recently bought a SPOT Connect for its distress calling capability,
or are looking at similar satellite messaging devices such as the SPOT
Messenger, DeLorme InReach, or Briartek Cerberus, you'll want to read our
upcoming report on the tragic April 28 accident involving the Hunter 376
Aegean during the Newport to Ensenada Race.

When we first reviewed the SPOT Messenger (Sept. 2008), we raised concerns
about introducing a private distress monitoring service into the
search-and-rescue equation. Unlike a 406 EPIRB or Personal Locator Beacon
(PLB), the SPOT "SOS" distress signal is not part of the Global Maritime
Distress Safety System (GMDSS) that relays distress signals directly to
search-and-rescue agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard. The SPOT signal
goes to GEOS Alliance, a monitoring service based in Houston, Texas, which
follows its own response protocol.

According to the SPOT website, if a distress call is made using the SOS
function on a SPOT device, GEOS Alliance's Emergency Response Center
"notifies the appropriate emergency responders based on your GPS location
and personal information." In case the SPOT cannot acquire its location
from the GPS network, "it will still attempt to send a distress signal -
without exact location - to GEOS, which will still notify your contacts of
the signal and continue to monitor the network for further messages."

While reading about the Aegean accident, in which four sailors died when
their boat reportedly sailed into rocky Coronado Island sometime around
1:30 a.m. on April 28, I began to wonder: What would happen if a SPOT
distress alert had no position, but the SPOT's approximate location was
known through tracking data? And what would happen if the SPOT's track
clearly indicated danger - say, a sailboat plowing into rocky island off
the coast of Mexico?

Would that then merit a call to the Coast Guard?

Apparently not.

Sometime around 1:30 a.m. on April 28, the SPOT device owned by Theo
Mavromatis, the registered skipper of the Aegean, sent out a distress
signal that was received by GEOS Alliance. According to one person I spoke
with who is familiar with the incident, "there is no question that this was
a distress signal sent by a person."

Although the distress signal had no position data, Mavromatis had
programmed the device to report his position every 10 minutes so that
family could track the boat. Shortly after the distress signal went out,
Mavromatis' wife, Loren, received a phone call from GEOS Alliance. She was
asleep, so the report of the distress signal from her husband's SPOT went
to voicemail. For several hours after that, it appears that there was no
effort made by the monitoring agency to contact the U.S. Coast Guard or to
confirm the distress alert, even though boat's track clearly indicated
trouble. -- Read on: http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/-10824-1.html