Please select your home edition
Edition
Mackay Boats 728x90 TOP

Salty Dawg Rally- aftermath of Gulf Stream storm havoc

by Mike Hixenbaugh,PilotOnLine/Sail-World round-up on 11 Nov 2013
Salty Dawg Rally - it’s meant to end like this, and maybe it still will for most yachts in the rally SW
The woes of some of the boats in the Salty Dawg Rally in crossing the Gulf Stream during stormy weather have drawn critics and defenders alike. In any rally there is no doubt that each skipper is required to make his or her own call as to their departure and all other decisions during a rally.

However, some of the stories coming back from the US Coast Guard accounts and even from the sailors themselves makes one wonder whether some sailors were less than well prepared for the conditions, with several sounding a distress and then withdrawing their call.

Two of the survivors, Bruce Grieshaber and Becky Meinking, who had sold all their worldly possessions to purchase a boat and sail away to the Caribbean, told media outlets that they had 'they trained extensively with the Salty Dawg Rally organizers before setting sail', implying that they were inexperienced sailors and hence ill-prepared for such a first journey.

They, with two other crew, were aboard the 41ft sailboat, Ahimsa. They sent out a distress signal via a satellite tracking device, stating they were taking on water 230 miles east of Virginia Beach and were in need of assistance. At approximately 0130, all four crewmembers were rescued by a Jayhawk helicopter and taken to Air Station Elizabeth City.

The skipper Grieshaber later told Wavy.com how the boat was 'taking on too much water' and seemed to have a 'structural problem', caused by the waves. They radioed the rally network and then called the Coast Guard for help.

They were seasick. They were tired.

'Death did cross my mind,' said Meinking. 'But I was determined to do everything we could do to stay alive.'

Hope came in a helicopter. The Coast Guard lowered a swimmer, Petty Officer 2nd Class Chad Watson, into the water with a harness. The couple and their two friends on board had to swim to the harness. Meinking went first. Grieshaber watched the current take her toward the rescue swimmer.

'He found her within seconds,' Grieshaber said, fighting back tears. 'It seemed like an eternity. It was not easy.'

One by one they were pulled into the helicopter. Like a true captain, Greishaber was the last to leave the vessel.

'When that diver grabs you...there is nothing like it,' he said.

They are staying with friends in Smithfield because all of their worldly possessions were on the 41-foot sailboat they left behind. No-one is asking whether they could have saved their boat by staying on board.

The Caribbean 1500, another rally also planning to travel from Hampton Roads to the Caribbean, departed ahead of schedule last weekend in a single pack to get out ahead of bad weather. Social media posts and online forums in the US East Coast sailing fraternity have been full of questions about the wisdom of Salty Dawg's setting sail with such a narrow window to beat rough weather.

Andy Schell, in charge of planning the Caribbean 1500, described how the threat of back-to-back cold fronts prompted event organizers to set sail a day early from Portsmouth. Each of the 30 boats participating in that event crossed through the Gulf Stream without issue, Schell said.

'Nobody wants to see this happen,' Schell said. 'It's really a shame. That's why we use the sailing model that we use - to minimize the risk as much as possible and keep everyone safe.'

The Caribbean 1500, which charges a participation fee and adheres to International Sailing Federation safety standards, has long required each boat to submit to pre-event safety checks and strongly suggests that its participants set sail within a certain window. If the boats hadn't left a day early, Schell said, forecasts suggested it would be at least a week before conditions improved enough to begin the event.

Roughly 115 boats participated in the third-annual Salty Dawg Rally, some leaving early to avoid the worst of the weather. Most serious problems occurred late Thursday as those who left on schedule sailed into strong crosswinds and choppy seas some 200 miles off the coast of North Carolina.

Two boats lost their masts; four others had serious rudder problems. One sailor lost his footing and broke an arm. Crew members from other boats reported intense seasickness.

In all, the Coast Guard responded to five distress calls from Salty Dawg participants.

By Thursday evening, the 41-foot sailboat Ahimsa had foundered, its crew rescued.

Other boats let off distress signals, only to reverse their decision that they needed rescuing.

The crew of the 38-foot sailboat Nyapa sent a satellite signal indicating they had lost their mast and were taking on water. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane that had been circling above the Ahimsa was diverted toward the distress signal. The boat's crew later reported that the vessel was fine - minus the mast - and that they were continuing the journey by motor.

The crew of the sailboat Aurora also sent out a distress signal when conditions turned ugly, but they later contacted another sailboat, which passed word to the Coast Guard that the crew had decided to head for Bermuda.

The fourth vessel in distress, the Braveheart, was about 50 miles southeast of Ocracoke Inlet when the crew reported that a 67-year-old man had a serious arm injury. The Coast Guard Cutter Block Island arrived, intending to accompany the Braveheart back to shore. Instead, it was diverted to help yet another disabled sailboat, Zulu, so Braveheart successfully sailed to Morehead City, N.C. on its own.

The Block Island found the 54-foot sailboat Zulu adrift about 100 miles east of Oregon Inlet. The cutter crew was actually able to assist this time, towing the boat to shore Friday morning.

The Salty Dawg Rally started three years ago after a core group of mariners from the Caribbean 1500 broke away. Linda Knowles and her husband founded the rally 'for seasoned mariners who desired a less rigid experience'. The group doesn't charge a participation fee, and the responsibility for deciding when to set sail is entrusted to each skipper.

'It's not as if we're just a bunch of wayward sailors who leave when we want and do what we want and don't pay attention to forecasts,' Knowles said, noting that her group provides 'training opportunities' and daily sailing forecasts. 'We give them advice, but the decision as to when they go is totally up to them, and they're responsible for that decision.'

Though the official start date of the Salty Dawg Rally was November 4th, the philosophy of the rally holds that each skipper is responsible for their own schedule, so boats departed beginning November 2 on through to November 8.

Though the Rally’s renowned weather router, Chris Parker, warned of a strong front passing over the mouth of the Chesapeake November 4 and 5, he couldn't have predicted the way the front slowed and grew more intense as it passed over the bulk of the fleet on Wednesday night and Thursday.

Many of the Salty Dawg fleet are headed to Bermuda to lay over until the weather improves while the rest are carrying on to their final destination, the British Virgin Islands.
RS Sailing 2021 - FOOTERV-DRY-XC-Tech 2021 America's Cup 728x90 BOTTOM

Related Articles

2025 29er Europeans at Lake Garda Day 1
Five teams tied at the top Ikke Huber / Liam Berger (Switzerland) lead the charge after sweeping all 3 races in the Green fleet — an impressive perfect score of 2 points. Lucas & Moritz Hamm, the dynamic twin duo from Germany, matched their Swiss rivals with consistency and pace.
Posted on 3 Jul
Onboard reporters in the Course des Caps
Enjoying the challenge of bringing the race to life In the Course des Caps - Boulogne sur Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, the Onboard Reporters, or OBRs, are back doing a wonderful job of bringing IMOCA racing to life with pictures, videos, interviews and reports from the boats.
Posted on 3 Jul
Rolex TP52 Worlds in Cascais Day 2
Consistent American Magic Quantum Racing move clear ahead American Magic Quantum Racing stepped three points clear at the top of the 2025 Rolex TP52 World Championship leaderboard today in Cascais, Portugal on the strength of a first and third from two breezy races.
Posted on 3 Jul
505 UK Nationals at Weymouth
Michael Sims and Carl Gibbon hold back Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn Apart from one 'stumble' in Race 7, the two leading boats were almost invisibly tied together to the point that after 8 races, they were tied on points.
Posted on 3 Jul
Robert H. Tiedemann Classics Regatta concludes
A triumphant start to the Classic Yacht Challenge Series The 2025 Robert H. Tiedemann Classics Regatta, hosted by the New York Yacht Club, delivered a spectacular start to this year's Classic Yacht Challenge Series.
Posted on 3 Jul
Unforgettable Transatlantic Race 2025 finish
First to arrive was Ocean Fifty Calamity, co-skippered by Timo Tavio and Kimo Nordström. It was rush hour in Cowes on Day 15 of the west-to-east Transatlantic Race 2025, as boats crossed the finish line in Cowes within minutes of each other after an epic 3,000-mile battle for top honors in IRC 1.
Posted on 3 Jul
iQFOiL World Championships set to open in Aarhus
Olympic medalists and world-class riders gather in Denmark for the biggest iQFOiL event of the year. The stage is set in Aarhus for a spectacular week of high-speed sailing as the iQFOiL World Championships 2025 kick off on 4 July, bringing together over 200 of the world's best windsurfers from more than 40 nations.
Posted on 3 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe to showcase new race tracker
Developed with PredictWind to revolutionise race coverage The Ocean Race, often described as the toughest test of a team in sport and widely recognised as a leader in impactful ocean health initiatives, and PredictWind, a global leader in marine weather forecasting, are collaborating on a new race tracker.
Posted on 3 Jul
Oliver Heer confirms 2028 Vendée Globe ambition
The Swiss skipper aims to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race with a newer boat After completing the Vendée Globe 2024 on his first attempt, Oliver Heer, the Swiss-German skipper of Tut gut Sailing, has confirmed his intention to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race.
Posted on 3 Jul
SailingFast to provide unrivalled event support
During the WASZP Games at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy SailingFast UK is set to land in Weymouth on the 8th of July and will be on-site until the 26th of July to provide the GOLD STANDARD in event support.
Posted on 3 Jul