Yesterday, a sailboat capsized. A 14 year old sailor got tangled in her harness and was submerged for 2 minutes. In spite of the efforts of rescuers, she died.
As a sailor, we know that we take risks each time we go on the water. Most of us train ourselves to minimize the risks and to be prepared when things go wrong. Sailing is by and large a very safe activity. However, accidents do happen.
This accident hits close to home, literally and figuratively. It occurred in Annapolis at a center where the high schoolers that I coached go sailing at least once a year and where many of them are members of the local sailing clubs. Undoubtedly, some of them will have known this young girl. It's possible that I saw her at one of our regattas. The director of the center is our league administrator and I know him to be a really conscienscious and capable guy who does everything possible to make sure the kids are safe. I think of my kids, and i do think of them as my kids, and I can only hope that I am taking the right measures to keep them safe and to be there quickly enough to help if anything goes wrong. I foillow my training and listen to others with more experience and take no chances.
The girl was attached to a "trapeze" which in sailing is just a wire that allows the sailor to put her weight completely out of the boat, standing on the side of the boat and leaning out in order to keep the boat flat in heavy wind. Apparently, when her boat capsized the sailor wasn't able to get herself off the trapeze and was trapped under her overturned boat.
My heart goes out to her, her family, friends and fellow sailors and to the instructors who were there and were not able to save her.
14 year old sailor drowns
As a sailor, we know that we take risks each time we go on the water. Most of us train ourselves to minimize the risks and to be prepared when things go wrong. Sailing is by and large a very safe activity. However, accidents do happen.
This accident hits close to home, literally and figuratively. It occurred in Annapolis at a center where the high schoolers that I coached go sailing at least once a year and where many of them are members of the local sailing clubs. Undoubtedly, some of them will have known this young girl. It's possible that I saw her at one of our regattas. The director of the center is our league administrator and I know him to be a really conscienscious and capable guy who does everything possible to make sure the kids are safe. I think of my kids, and i do think of them as my kids, and I can only hope that I am taking the right measures to keep them safe and to be there quickly enough to help if anything goes wrong. I foillow my training and listen to others with more experience and take no chances.
The girl was attached to a "trapeze" which in sailing is just a wire that allows the sailor to put her weight completely out of the boat, standing on the side of the boat and leaning out in order to keep the boat flat in heavy wind. Apparently, when her boat capsized the sailor wasn't able to get herself off the trapeze and was trapped under her overturned boat.
My heart goes out to her, her family, friends and fellow sailors and to the instructors who were there and were not able to save her.
14 year old sailor drowns
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My thoughts are with her family.