Hit and Run

[RedBellies]

I've been wondering when this would finally happen again:

Sailor severely injured on Chesapeake

I really feel for this guy. I sail nearly year round on the bay, at least twice a week. I just don't understand why powerboaters feel the need to consistently come within 50' of sailboats, usually at full power. A 17' center console doesn't bother me at all but a 40'+ power yacht on plane is dangerous that close. I shouldn't have to clip in so some asshat with twin 454s doesn't throw me out of my own cockpit. It's bad in a C22, not fun in my Albin and if I'm hiked out in my Mutineer it's scary.

I hope the DNR starts doing something about this.

[Chief Engineer]

The guy was swimming at Thomas Point Light......not a smart thing to do.

[RedBellies]

He was retrieving a bait trap, within 50' of his vessel at anchor. And none of that makes a difference. You don't blow past an anchored boat like that.

[Ex-Calif]

First of all let me say it totally sucks the guy was hit. However -

It was a 21 foot powerboat not a 45 foot twin screw.
Swimming in the "vicinity" of his sailboat? How close is that?
Were they flying a swimmers flag (alpha)? Not that most recreational boaters would recognize it.
Did the powerboat leave the scene after knowingly hitting the guy? It's not clear.

I agree 100% that no one should power through a mooring area, but CE indicates this is a pretty busy thoroughfare in a channel or whatever. You dive there, you have a lot of responsibility to be seen and I don't think much expectation that people should slow down.

If you decide to be a pedestrian on I-5 I don't think there is a reasonable expectation that traffic should slow down.

Originally Posted by RedBellies

I've been wondering when this would finally happen again:

Sailor severely injured on Chesapeake

I really feel for this guy. I sail nearly year round on the bay, at least twice a week. I just don't understand why powerboaters feel the need to consistently come within 50' of sailboats, usually at full power. A 17' center console doesn't bother me at all but a 40'+ power yacht on plane is dangerous that close. I shouldn't have to clip in so some asshat with twin 454s doesn't throw me out of my own cockpit. It's bad in a C22, not fun in my Albin and if I'm hiked out in my Mutineer it's scary.

I hope the DNR starts doing something about this.

[maxingout]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Did the powerboat leave the scene after knowingly hitting the guy? It's not clear.

If you run over a human being with a power boat, and don't know you hit something, you are either incompetent or under the influence of chemicals. It sounds like his legs were cut by the props.

[hummingway]

Some of this discussion doesn't seem to have much to do with the story. The boaters must have realised they hit something and you would think they would check? It may be understandable that they hit a swimmer but hit and run is not.

In Canada you are responsible for your wake, not that this has any thing to do with the story but, and if someone was thrown out of their craft by your wake you are responsible. If you see someone else hit someone and don't try to help the person you can also be held responsible, never mind if you do the hitting.

Of course it is possible that they didn't know they hit something. The story is a little short on detail but it seems that people were watching on the anchored vessel and you'd think they would be yelling?

Innocent until poven guilty or condemned by an internet forum I say!

[BubbleHeadMd]

I sail in the area. They're never going to find these people. Do you have any idea how many of those Donzi-class boats are around? The last couple of weeks I've been out, I've seen scads of them.

It's shaping up to be a very busy season on the Chesapeake. Huge power yachters throwing large wakes and recreational fisherman trawling with multiple rigs are making for some challenging sailing. These kinds of accidents are bound to happen.

I've found that there's more room, better water, and less traffic down south of the West and Rhode Rivers.

[bloodhunter]

Hope they find the boat but have to agree with Bubblehead. We were sailing in that general area heading up toward the Bay bridge and saw a couple of boats that fit that description. Saturday was a beautiful sailing day, sunny, warm with winds about 15 knots. There was a 2-foot sea (don't laugh -- that's a lot for the Chesapeake) so it would have been very difficult to see a swimmer especially at the speed that those boats go. Can't imagine that they didn't know they hit something. Bad news all around

[YOGAO]

The article actually says between Fishing Bay and Thomas Point Lighthouse. Technically, that is well outside the channel and inside the Thomas Point Shoal that the lighthouse was designed for. That said, for a 21' Donzi, it would perhaps be a perfect area to get up on plane and really move.

An absolute bummer for the guy in the water, obviously.

Fair Winds,
Mike

[brak]

I think chances of finding the boat are not quite so bad. Someone will talk, eventually. Or at least I hope someone would.

It's amazing that on the one hand we have serious discussions about safety, navigation and rules of the road and on the other, in stark contrast, reality is that many people do not know and do not care for either, and have little elementary common sense (and integrity, as in this case).