Dauphin Island Regatta tragedy- update + 15 min onboat video
by Sail-World.com on 2 May 2015
A violent squall capsized boats in Alabama's Mobile Bay. Josuha Edwards
The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Thursday that the bodies of two more sailors who participated in last Saturday's Fairhope Yacht Club 18 nautical mile Dauphin Island Race conducted on Mississippi Sound, Alabama had been found.
The bodies of Adam Clark and Robert Thomas were found days after a squall wiith winds of more than 60 knots hit the Dauphin Island fleet overturning boats and drowning at least five sailors.
According to Coast Guard officials, Clark, 17, of Mobile, and Thomas, 50 of Pickens, Miss., were both found Thursday in separate locations in the Mississippi Sound. The boats Clark and Thomas were on during the race went down about 10 miles from where their bodies were found.
Of the six men missing following the storm, five have been located. In addition to Clark and Thomas, authorities have also recovered the bodies of 72-year-old Robert Delaney, of Madison, Miss.; 27-year-old Kris Beal, of Pineville, La., and 67-year-old William Glenn Massey, of Daphne.
The Coast Guard has searched 9,500 square miles of Mobile Bay and 164 miles of its shoreline and at sunset Thursday, the Coast Guard stepped into a support role in the search for the last person believed to be missing following the regatta. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency will be leading the search for Mobile resident Jimmie Charles 'J.C.' Brown, 71.
On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency asked sailors who participated in Saturday's Dauphin Island Regatta to fill out a survey about events surrounding the race. The survey will be used in the investigation of the tragedy, according to officials. The survey included seven questions and invited participants to create a narrative of the events surrounding the race.
Weather Channel forecaster Jim Cantore told viewers Wednesday that he believed sailors in Saturday's race may not have faced the intense storm had the race's start not been delayed. 'What's interesting is that they started the race late. If they had started it on time, I don't think they would have had to deal with that weather,' Cantore said.
The Fairhope Yacht Club has said in a statement that it was cooperating with the Coast Guard and local authorities in the search. 'The Fairhope Yacht Club, all the sailing community, and their families are heartbroken with what has happened.' (late addition to this report)
Below is a 15 min Go Pro video on Dauphin Island Race storm
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