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  Celebrating everday heroes—Sailing news from North & America & beyond
 | 2017 29er Worlds, Long Beach, CA, USA
- Day 3 © Mattias Capizzano |
Let's face it: launching a news app on one's smartphone in the year 2017 is a constant gamble—will this innocent-enough little screen tap flood one's world with a huge amount of depressing, enraging, or otherwise illogical news that some might decry as fake? It's no easy flying out there for those who like to keep a pulse on the world's cardiovascular system, but every once in a while even a year as challenging as 2017 drops a nugget in front of you that reinstates belief in humanity. For me at least, one such example happened on August 6 at the 29er World Championship Regatta, which just took place at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, California.
According to several news reports, Jesse Dransfield (AUS) and her crewmember Simon Hoffman (AUS) were advancing their Olympic dreams by competing in the 29er Worlds when Hoffman made an on-the-spot decision that saved a life. The team was reportedly approaching the first leg of the regatta's final race when Hoffman heard emergency cries emanating from a capsized boat roughly 120 feet away.
 | | 2017 29er Worlds, Long Beach, CA, USA - Day 4 © Mattias Capizzano |
The cries were coming from skipper Lola Kohl (IRL), who was desperately trying to alert her follow competitors that her partner, Johnny Durcan (IRL), was tangled in cordage and trapped under the boat.
Rather than waiting or even consulting his skipper, Hoffman's high-performance athleticism kicked in and the talented young sailor simply reacted.
 | | 2017 29er Worlds, Long Beach, CA, USA - Day 4 © Mattias Capizzano |
Granted, Durcan is one of Hoffman's best friends, but the outcome-and Hoffman's brave and selfless reaction-would have been the same irrespective of the endangered sailor: Hoffman simply debarked his 29er and started swimming, loosing his lifejacket so that he could dive deep to reach his stricken mate.
Fellow competitor Santiago Alegre (ESP) also saw what was happening and abandoned his race to help Hoffman save Durcan.
 | | 2017 29er Worlds, Long Beach, CA, USA - Day 5 © Mattias Capizzano |
Together, Hoffman and Alegre managed to get a nearly lifeless Durcan to the surface, but the talented Irish youth was not drawing breath on his own. Fortunately, a powerboat soon joined the rescue efforts, and Hoffman and Alegre swam Durcan to the powerboat, where he was pulled aboard.
Then, Hoffman and Alegre went to work.
 | 2017 29er Worlds, Long Beach, CA, USA
© Matias Capizzano © Mattias Capizzano |
Hoffman had recently received an intensive first-aid course as part of his Olympic sailing training, which included CPR, and while the situation was grave, Hoffman and Alegre diligently kept administrating the life-saving procedure until-finally-Durcan started to breathe on his own.
Durcan was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he recovered and was visited by Hoffman and Alegre, and where the young Irishman also reached out to Australian Sailing with a plea to have Hoffman's life-saving efforts recognized.
 | | Day 1 Zhik 2017 29er Worlds, Long Beach, CA, USA © Mattias Capizzano |
While there is likely a lot more to this story (including some less-than-savory reports that other boats sailed past Kohl and Durcan's capsized boat and-instead of stopping to help-simply yelled out to other competitors that someone was in trouble), the simple fact that Hoffman and Alegre would react in such a selfless and honorable way, and would possess the calm, steady, diligent mindset required to save a would-be drowning victim speaks volumes of a maturity and capability far exceeding their ages.
 | | 2017 29er Worlds, Long Beach, CA, USA - Day 4 © Mattias Capizzano |
So, as the real world struggles through another week of a grinding, churning international news cycle, take heart in the fact that our sport (and our global population) is loaded with people like Hoffman and Alegre, offering hope that when things get darkest, the strongest amongst us ditch their own Olympic dreams and instead ensure that others can simply see broad daylight again.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
Discussing the Storm Trysail Club's Ted Hood Regatta with Clarke Smith
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor, 
Given the late, great Ted Hood's sterling reputation as both a sailor and innovator, it makes a lot of sense that the Storm Trysail Club's Marblehead Station would create their inaugural Ted Hood Regatta (August 25-27), which will be held on the waters off of Marblehead, Massachusetts, in his honor. I corresponded with Clarke Smith, chairman for the 2017 Ted Hood Regatta, via email, to learn more.... [more]
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