CHARLEVOIX COUNTY, MI -- The Charlevoix County sheriff's eleven week investigation is complete that looked into the deadly July sailboat accident that killed two sailors racing in the Chicago to Mackinac Race.
The morning of July 18th was a fateful one. 51 year-old Mark Morley, the skipper of the sailboat WingNuts, and 40 year-old Susan Bickel died from blunt force trauma to the head and drowned when their sailboat capsized. Six other crew members survived
“The interesting part is to see what went right and what went wrong," explained Charlevoix County Sheriff Don Schneider.
In a 150-page report that took 100 work hours to complete, the Sheriff noted two major points of concern that could have lead to even more deaths that night. The first deals with the personal flotation devices (PFD) the crew was wearing.
“If you've got a self-inflating PFD, and you find yourself upside down in the boat, under the boat, that self-inflating PFD could cause your death, because it could keep you under the boat when you can't get our from under it," explained Schneider.
The second point speaks to the tethers connected to the sailors. When the boat tipped, the report says the surviving crew had a hard time freeing themselves.
“That tether, particularly in a sailboat where you've got all the sails, obviously, from our investigation, were all getting entangled from all the obstruction under there," explained the Sheriff.
While the sheriff says PFDs and tethers are necessary safety wear for sailors some modifications need to be made based on what happened to the crew of the WingNuts.
“We're certainly presenting them, here's the problem, the experts can come up with the solutions," said Schneider.
The Sheriff says like with any sport, sailing has its own risks, and he hopes his report will be looked at and the things that went wrong that day will be made right.
We contacted the Chicago to Mackinac Race officials, and they tell us they've hired US Sailing to do a five person, independent review of the accident and expect results by the end of the month. They also said they appreciate Charlevoix County’s efforts in their investigation.
Overall, Sheriff Schneider says he believes the race is safe and that accidents do happen.
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The following information is from Sheriff Schneiders report:
The capsizing was the result of a severe storm front moving across Lake Michigan with wind speeds approaching hurricane force. The storm was well radio broadcasted by the National Weather Service.
The crew of the WingNuts was aware of the approaching storm. Armed with that knowledge, the crew lowered the main sail and relied on the #3 head sail to maintain steerage. The crew continued to prepare for the storm by dressing in foul weather gear, PFDs, and attaching their tethers to the boat.
At the peak of the storm, the vessel rolled ninety degrees. The crew was not concerned at that point due to prior history of the vessel always returning to normal trim. However, the vessel continued to roll and capsized.
It is at that point when tragedy struck. It is reported by several crewmembers of struggling to free themselves of the vessel due to their tethers. The tethers became entangled in the rigging causing them to be held down under the water line as the vessel tossed and rolled by the wave action. The tethers had to be released or cut by a fellow crew member to free them of the vessel. This problem was acerbated by the pitch darkness of the night.
Based upon victim and witness statements, it would be noted by Sheriff Schneider that this tragedy could very easily have taken a higher toll of lives.
It should be clear that a number of things went wrong as well as a number of things went right. Further, this investigation will generate more questions then answers. Those answers should come from competent experts in the field of personal flotation devices (PFD) and tethers. The question was raised in regards to the vessel design and did this design contribute to the vessel capsizing? Again, that question would be best answered by experienced naval engineers with a specialty in sailing vessels.
Under the column of what went right, the crew had prepared themselves for the storm as described above. This was followed by a team effort, after capsizing, to ensure each of the other crewmen were aided in freeing themselves from the vessel. With the exception of one crewmember, all of the crewmembers had dawned their PFD.
The exception was one crewmember who had gone below deck to rest. Given the circumstance that he was below deck at the time of the capsizing, placed him in more serious peril. By not being encumbered by his PFD, and focusing on the vessel instrument lights, it allowed him to find his way out from under the hull. Had he worn and inflated his PFD, there is a strong indication that he could have been trapped inside with fatal results.
Five of the six survivors were able to climb on top of the hull to await rescue. The sixth survivor was too exhausted to pull himself up on the hull so he held on to the rudder. The crewmembers using their emergency strobe lights and whistles were able to draw the attention of the sailing vessel, Sociable. The Sociable, using a life sling, was able to retrieve the six survivors from the WingNuts and later transported them to shore for medical evaluation. The crew of the Sociable is commended for their valiant efforts in rescuing the survivors of the WingNuts.
Looking at what went wrong, we only need to look at two main areas of concern. First, no one would argue that the PFD is an excellent safety device under the majority of circumstances. It should also be pointed out there are many types of PFDs. Each type of PFD has unique purposes and the correct one to use is dependent upon the person and the situation.
To make this point, look at a self inflating or type 1 PFD. If given the scenario of being trapped under an overturned boat, the ability to escape is of serious concern. The opposite would happen if someone was injured or incapacitated and fell overboard, where the self inflating or type 1 PFD would be of significant advantage. There is no correct answer for this situation. Armed with the knowledge of the PFD being used, the recommendation would be practice the ability to deflate the vest, if found to be trapped.
Second, the issue of the tethers brings about additional concerns. Again, there is no correct answer. In review of the survivors' statements, it is of concern when the tether becomes entangled in rigging or any other equipment. Another concern is the ability to be able to unhook the tether from the harness or PFD once the PFD is inflated. To be clear, the tether is an excellent piece of equipment. The user needs to know the dangers that may cause them concern under certain conditions. Those concerns could be easily erased by a simple knife, conveniently secured to one's self, for rapid deployment.
As reflected above, the concerns of the Sheriff generate more questions then answers. The intent of this report is to challenge the boating public to review, investigate, and educate the public as well as ultimately provide changes to continue working towards a safer environment for our boating enthusiast.
