Around the World of Sailing

28 August 2002

Event News: J 35 Great Lakes Championship

The J/35 Great Lakes Championship was hosted by the Muskegon
Yacht Club August 23-25. The days showed a variety of wind
conditions and the flexibility of the sailing venues at
Muskegon.

Due to light and variable wind on Lake Michigan the races on
day one were held in the confines of Muskegon Lake. Inland
the day started with moderate breeze for races #1 & 2, with
Bozo's Circus taking two bullets. As the day wore on, the
wind died off, leaving the third race with a creeping finish
and allowing Ragtime to take their first win of the regatta.
Touch of Grey rolled into Muskegon toward the end of the
third race - where were they?? That is another story for
another day.

Day two dawned with nearly perfect wind conditions. The
racers moved out to Lake Michigan and held three races in a
consistent 12-18 out of the NW. Excellent wind and moderate
chop. After their late arrival, Touch of Grey made an
excellent showing with firsts in the 4th & 6th race and a
second in the 5th. Ragtime maintained their consistent
finishes with two seconds and a first on the day.

Sunday the wind was less then ideal. Race 7 started at 5
knots and only went down from there. The regatta ended with
the boats fighting the current in their drift toward the
finish line. Touch of Grey finished first once again, but
there was no mathematical way for them to make up missing
day one. Ragtime finished second and became the overall
winner for the Championship, 10 points ahead of the second
place Bozo's Circus.

Links:
Complete results:
http://www.torresen.com/races/j35gl/2002/results.html

Theme Article: Sailing Education
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ag/0814/ms.htm

The final educational option we will consider are the classes
offered by the United States Power squadron. Typically
these courses are taken in the off season.

The US Power Squadron has been in the boating education
business since 1914. 3 million people have taken their
courses.

The Squadron Boating Course consists of 16 parts. It is
designed be useful to all boaters, from the fisherman in an
outboard to the skipper of a large cruiser or sailboat.

There are 3 sections to the Boat Smart Course. The course
meets the educational standards of the National Association
of State Boating Law Administrators and features a proctored
examination as required by many states and insurance
companies.

You can find USPS courses near you online at
http://www.usps.org/d_stuff/classes.html#schedule.
For those in ATWOS's home waters there is a Boat
Smart course beginning 7 September in Grand Rapids.

Links:
US Power Squadron
http://www.usps.org
Boat Smart Course
http://www.usps.org/e_stuff/BoatSmart.html

Event News: Around Alone Preview Part II

This week the we preview the boats and skippers hailing from
continental North America. All but Bruce Schwab are Class
II entries.

Bruce Schwab, 41, is a professional rigger from California.
His most significant previous race win is the 1996 Single
Handed Trans Pac.

Ocean Planet is the first Open 60 designed by Tom Wylie.
Construction of Wood/Carbon/Kevlar was completed in 2001 by
Schooner Creek Boat Works. Beam is 12.5 feet, draft is
14.75 feet. Schwab has sailed Ocean Planet from California
to Newport via the Panama Canal and has completed his
qualifying voyage.

Website: http://www.oceanplanet.org

John Dennis, 57, Toronto Canada is a real estate executive.
He is also a type 2 diabetic. His longest previous solo
voyage was 18 days from California to Hawaii.

Bayer Asensia is an Open 50 designed by Peter Ebbutt and
build by Concordia Yachts in 1994 of e glass/carbon. Beam
is 10 feet while draft is 12. The boat has a history of
almosts.... Brian Hancock almost sailed it in the 1998-99
Around Alone and Ellen Macarthur almost sailed in the Route
De Rhum.

Website: http://www.boldstatement.tv/

Duncan Gladman, 38, from Vancouver Canada is a sailmaker.
He is a long time racer of everything from windsurfers to
keelboats.

Canada Challenge is an Open 50 that has twice previously
sailed Around Alone. In 1998 she was Balance Bar. On
Gladman's qualifying sail problems with the steering system
forced him to return to California.

Website: http://www.canadachallenge.com

Derek Hatfield, 49, works in the banking and security
industry. He is an experienced sailor including 2nd place
in the 1997 and 1999 Bermuda One-Two race.

Spirit of Canada is an Open 40 designed by Bob Dresser and
built of Composite/Foam built in Bear Island New Brunswick
by Hatfield and his father and then finished by Wiggers
Yachts. Beam is 12.1 feet, draft 11.5. As of early August
Spirit of Canada is nearing Newport and completion of it's
qualification.

Website: http://www.spiritofcanada.net

Tim Kent, Milwaukee WI USA formerly worked in educational
publishing. His biggest solo sailing achievement is 1st to
finish in the 330-mile Chicago-to-Mackinac solo race.

Everest Horizontal is an Open 50 designed by Jim Antrim and
built in California by James Betts Enterprises, Inc
launched in December of 1999 with the name as Convergence.
She carries a 70 foot mast and 3181 square feet of offwind
canvas and is constructed of carbon. Everest Horizontal
completed the Great Lakes racing season in 2001.

Website: Http://www.everesthorizontal.com

Brad Van Liew, 33, hails from California and is a
professional sailor. He competed in the 1998-99 Around
Alone finishing 3rd in Class II.

Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America is an Open 50 designed by
Finot. IT was built by JVM in 1997 of Carbon/Nomex. Beam
is 16 1/4 feet, draft 13.5 feet. The boat sailed the
1998-99 Around Alone as Magellan Alpha finishing 2nd in
Class II.

Website: http://www.oceanracing.org

News: Boat Smart

Boat Smart is a weekly column written by Chief Tom Rau,
Group Grand Haven, U.S. Coast Guard and appears in a number
of newspapers. Chief Rau has been writing and promoting safe
boating since 1986. Many of his columns are taken from real
life experiences from Station St. Joseph/South Haven, where
Chief Rau is currently serving.

Flotation key to open water survival

By Senior Chief Tom Rau, Coast Guard Group Grand Haven, Mi.

Of all the fatalities I've seen on Lake Michigan over the
years the most agonizing to me are the ones that find a
boater overboard in a vast reach of water with no where to
go but down because they lack personal floatation.

Desperate open water struggles are not that uncommon: What
is uncommon are the few who survive to tell their story.
Nancy Mariani and Todd Verhalen, of Chicago, recently beat
the odds and feel divinely blessed. On July 21, 2002 they
were separated from their 16-foot Hobie Cat on Lake
Michigan, 10 miles off Wilmette Harbor, Chicago.

"We were having a great day of sailing and around 10 miles
out we decided to swim to cool off from the heat," said
Mariani. "I entered the water and didn't think much of it
until the boat began slowly drifting away." Mariani figures
she was 20 feet from the boat when she began struggling in
the choppy seas. She cried out for help.

Todd Verhalen, her sailing mate, sensed her danger. He
hastened to bring the Hobie about but realized that Nancy
needed immediate help. He grabbed two life jackets and dove
into the lake. As they struggled into the life jackets they
watched the Hobie Cat sail off. It eventually reached St
Joseph, Michigan some 53 miles later.

Alone and adrift 10 miles offshore, the Chicago skyline a
distance ridge, and with night approaching, what were they
to do? "We kept stroking towards Chicago, feeling a
profound confidence that we would prevail," said Nancy. At
times the couple experienced energy burst then bouts with
sleepiness, but they kept stroking onward. To the south, the
Chicago skyline sparkled above the lake offering an
encouraging beacon.

"At times the water grew chilly and other times lightning
flashed above the horizon, but we kept moving towards
shore," said Nancy. Some fifteen hours after the couple
entered the water, the crew of the fishing boat Snow Goose
spotted them in early morning light clinging to a sail buoy
two miles from shore. They pulled them to safety.

Were they luck? You bet! But they were also the
beneficiaries of favorable circumstances: the water
temperature hovered in the low 70s; the skyline of Chicago
offered a guiding beacon; they were young and vital; they
possessed a strong will to live; they shared strong
spiritual beliefs in a greater power; and foremost, they
wore life jackets. "Without life jackets, we could not have
survived," said Nancy.

For those that regularly read this column, this old life
jacket preacher can't help but beat the pulpit once again.
What greater testimony could there be than Nancy and Todd's.
Unfortunately the lost testimony of so many others lies
forever silent in the deep. Here are some recent heart
breaking cases.

On Sunday, August 15, 1999, Harry Bull, 39, and his two
daughters Maddlie, 7, and Lexie, 5, set out on an over-night
sail from Monroe Harbor, Chicago aboard their father's
26-foot sail boat. Twenty-four hours later family members
grew concerned when the sailing trio failed to report home.
The Coast Guard launched a massive search. On Tuesday
evening the empty 26-foot fiberglass sailboat was found
about 30 miles northeast of Waukegan with its swimming
ladder extended and two towels draped over the rail.

The search continued and on Wednesday afternoon a Coast
Guard Auxiliary boat found Bull's body and a Coast Guard
helicopter found Maddie about a quarter-mile away. Neither
wore lifejackets. The distance from the bodies and where
the boat was recovered was about 20 miles. Lexie, 5, still
remains missing. How they ended up in the water remains a
mystery, but one thing is for certain they were not wearing
lifejackets.

One Tuesday, August 2, 2000, the Coast Guard launched an
extensive search off White Lake Michigan after family
members reported that Ronald Jager, 59, failed to report
home after setting out the day before to go fishing aboard
his 21-foot Hydra/Sports fishing boat. The Coast Guard
launched an extensive search in which I took part.

On Thursday, Jager's boat was located beached in Milwaukee
Harbor with its electric kicker motor still engaged and two
down riggers trailing 200-feet of line; all four life
jackets that he normally carried were aboard. The boat
ended up about 70 miles from where he was seen on Monday
seven miles off White Lake, Michigan. On Friday, the search
was called off, his body remains missing.

A month later, on September 3, 2000, Thomas Deyoung, 52,
was last seen on his 14-foot john boat a couple of miles
south of Big Sable Point, Lake Michigan and about three
miles out into the lake. After several days, the Coast
Guard called off the search; his body also remains missing.

On March 31, 2002, Family members reported three males
between ages 28 and 31, missing after they departed Calumet
Harbor the previous day to go fishing. The Coast Guard
along with other rescue agencies launched a massive search.
On April 4, the 16-foot fiberglass boat was discovered at
the bottom of the Calumet Harbor shipping channel with no
apparent damage to the boat.

A month later on May 2, the first body was discovered and
several days later the other two bodies. How the boat sank
remains a mystery, but one thing is for certain, none of the
victims wore life jackets.

Recently, I made a Homeland Security patrol along Lake
Michigan's Eastern Shore aboard a Coast Guard auxiliary
aircraft. Flying at 1700 feet, and looking out across the
far reaches of blue, I wondered, once again, why we insist
on calling this huge expanse of water a lake. It is
anything but, which becomes readily apparent when atop its
vast domain. To be a desperate soul alone and adrift, a
speck, upon her endless reach without aid of flotation would
beckon the saving hand of angels. Boat Smart, be your own
angel, wear a life jacket.

Links:
Boat Smart
http://www.boatsmart.net/