Please select your home edition
Edition
X-Yachts Leaderboard 2024 1

Sailors Leap for their Lives from Doomed Yacht

by The Log/Sail-World on 26 Dec 2008
Beached yacht in daylight - photo by Imperial Beach Lifeguards and from The Log SW
Two sailors escaped their 44 foot cruising sailing boat by jumping into the surf just as it was pounding ashore this week at Imperial Beach near San Diego, California. The Log reported that the 1979 ketch Aurora was blown up onto the beach at approximately 3.45am.

The Imperial Beach Lifeguard and the Coronado Fire Department watched helplessly from the beach, training their spotlights on the cockpit of the vessel while the drama unfolded.

According to those watching, abandoning the vessel put both men's lives in danger. As crashing surf belted Aurora on the port (seaward) side, the men jumped off the starboard side into the overhead-deep water. For a few tension-filled moments, it looked as though the roiling water might suck the men back underneath the hull and crush them between the rocking boat and sandy bottom.

However, both men, wearing lifejackets, came back up to the surface and managed to swim towards the shore. The men were then helped onto the beach by the lifeguards watching, and treated by the fire brigade emergency medical technicians.

Although efforts were made to salvage the vessel, it was destroyed by the pounding surf. It had just been purchased in La Paz, Mexico by one of the sailors, from Massechusets. He and his friend were bringing the yacht to San Diego, when the engine died during a storm.

He told rescuers when they arrived on the beach that after the engine died they could not make way against the wind wave and current and the yacht was gradually sucked into the surf. The boat's owner, upset by the incident and the loss of his boat, flew back to Massachusetts and could not be reached for more comment.

The boat, a Hardin 44, was long keeled, excellent in an ocean for cruising for its superior tracking and smooth sailing, but would be more difficult to handle in close quarters without an engine and with contrary wind and current.
PredictWind - GPS 728x90 BOTTOMDoyle_SailWorld_728X90px_SY BOTTOMLloyd Stevenson - AC ETNZ 1456x180px BOTTOM

Related Articles

Course des Caps Update: A promising start!
The eleven crews have begun their grand tour around the British Isles The Course des Caps - Boulogne-sur-Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, which set sail from the shores of northern France, marks the first race of the 2025 season and kicks off the new edition of the IMOCA Globe Series Championship.
Posted today at 8:42 am
18ft Skiffs: Queensland 18 footer history
Decades of successful ideas and achievement Queensland's revival over recent seasons, which resulted in a two-pronged attack by experienced and young teams in new skiffs at the 2025 Giltinan world championship
Posted today at 6:46 am
Marine Auctions: Special July Online Auction
The bidding will end on Tuesday 22 July at 2pm AEST The alternative way of selling any type of vessel or marine asset with proven and successful results.
Posted today at 4:03 am
Transpac 2025 underway
Sixteen boats hit the line for the first start, departing LA for Hawaii Sixteen boats hit the line for the first start of three in the 2025 Transpac. Next stop: Hawaii.
Posted today at 1:13 am
GKSS Match Cup Sweden & Nordea Women's Trophy D2
A challenging southerly breeze and short three-lap course put teams to task A challenging southerly breeze and short three-lap course put teams to task on the second day of racing at the GKSS Match Cup Sweden and Nordea Women's Trophy in Marstrand, Sweden.
Posted on 1 Jul
Stan Honey's 3 ways to win (or lose) the Transpac
Stan breaks down all three race segments Taking a breather from pre-race prep on the largest boat in the fleet, Stan breaks down all three race segments and provides a pre-race weather report.
Posted on 1 Jul
Rolex TP52 Worlds in Cascais - Practice Day
Will Platoon Aviation's big breeze, big pressure experience prove key to their fourth world title? Of the three past and present world championship winning crews which completed their final practice today in typically muscular 25 knot breezes and big waves out of Cascais, Portugal it was Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon Aviation which showed best today.
Posted on 1 Jul
Some thoughts on provisioning for distance sailing
A new perspective on provisioning and time spent at sea One of the great joys of distance racing unfurls the moment that the dock lines are untied. Suddenly, the myriad packing lists that inevitably define most trip-planning efforts become about as relevant as a tax return from eight years ago.
Posted on 1 Jul
LA28 sailing venue decision driven by politicians
The LA28 Olympic "dinghy" events will be sailed off the largest container port in the US The decision to stage the Los Angeles "dinghy" events alongside a working container port appears to have been a determination by local politicians. But other big changes to reduce the Sailing Olympics are pending.
Posted on 1 Jul
Freestyle Pro Tour Paros day 3
The return of Super X Day 3 at the FPT Paros 2025 was a slower one - with a lay day with no wind anticipated and a late skippers meeting at 13:00 to assess the conditions, there wasn't much initially filling up the schedule.
Posted on 1 Jul