List of fatal accidents in sailboat racing
Appearance
Oceanic yacht racing is one of the most dangerous sports in the world.[1] It was particularly dangerous in the early days, when oceanic racing was more like early mountain climbing in terms of sense of adventure and achievement. Modern safety and communication equipment has improved safety; however, like any sport in the natural environment, risk is always present. In many races, participants have changed from amateur explorers to professional athletes.
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Deaths during crewed round-the-world races and record attempts
[edit]Race Name | Date | Name | Place | Boat | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Race | 1973–1974 | Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet, Bernie Hosking |
Southern Ocean | Tauranga, 33 Export, Great Britain II (respectively) |
Each swept overboard (Hosking twice)[2][3] |
Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Race | 1989 | Tony Phillips | Southern Ocean | Creighton Naturally | Swept overboard and recovered too late |
Volvo Ocean Race | 18 May 2006 | ![]() |
Off Land's End ![]() |
ABN Amro Volvo 70 | Washed overboard and recovered |
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race | 5 Sep 2015 | ![]() |
Atlantic Ocean | IchorCoal / Clipper 70 | Head Injury Boom/Mainsheet |
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race | 1 April 2016 | ![]() |
Pacific Ocean | IchorCoal / Clipper 70 | Swept overboard |
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race | 18 Nov 2017 | ![]() |
Indian Ocean | Great Britain / Clipper 70 | Swept overboard |
Volvo Ocean Race | 26 Mar 2018 | ![]() |
Southern Ocean | Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag Volvo Ocean 65 | Swept overboard |
Deaths during solo round-the-world races and record attempts
[edit]Race Name | Date | Name | Place | Boat | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BOC Challenge | 1986 | ![]() |
Southern Ocean | Skoiern IV | |
Vendée Globe | 1992 | ![]() |
Atlantic Ocean | Nigel Burgess Yachts | |
Vendée Globe | 1992 | ![]() |
Atlantic Ocean | Coyote | Lost at sea prior to departure |
Vendée Globe | 1997 | ![]() |
Southern Ocean | Groupe LG 2 |
Deaths during offshore races
[edit]Race Name | Host Club | Date | Name | Place | Boat | Description | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 OSTAR | ![]() |
June 1976 | Mike Flanagan (USA) | Atlantic Ocean | Galloping Gael | 38 ft Monohull; Sailor and Boat Lost at Sea | [8] |
Mike McMullen (GBR) | Atlantic Ocean | Three Cheers | Sailor and Boat Lost at Sea | ||||
1978 Route du Rhum | 16 November 1978 | Alain Colas | Azores | Manureva | Unknown | ||
1979 Fastnet race | ![]() |
14 August 1979 | 15 competitors and 6 observers | Celtic Sea | |||
1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race | ![]() |
27 December 1998 | Phillip Charles Skeggs, Bruce Raymond Guy |
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Business Post Naiad | drowned heart attack |
|
28 December 1998 | John Dean, James Lawler, Michael Bannister |
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Winston Churchill | all drowned | |||
27 December 1998 | ![]() |
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Sword of Orion | ||||
Doublehanded Farallones Race | 27 March 1999 | ![]() |
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White Lightning, J/29 | [9][10] | ||
Transat Jacques Vabre | 21 October 1999 | ![]() |
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ORMA 60 | Boat Capsized Paul was ondeck and lost other crew member was below deck | [11] | |
Doublehanded Lightship Race | ![]() |
16 March 2008 | ![]() ![]() |
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Daisy, Cheoy Lee Offshore 31 | [12] | |
Cowes-Cherbourg Race | ![]() |
17 June 2011 | ![]() |
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Lion, Reflex 38 | [13] | |
Chicago-Mackinac Race | ![]() |
17 July 2011 | ![]() ![]() |
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WingNuts, Kiwi 35 | head injuries during capsize | [14] |
Farallones Race | ![]() |
14 April 2012 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Low Speed Chase, Sydney 38 | Capsize killed 5 from crew of 8, near a rocky coast. | [15][16] |
Newport (Calif.) to Ensenada (Mexico) yacht race | 28 April 2012 | ![]()
|
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Aegean, Hunter 376 | nighttime crash into a rocky island | [17][18] | |
Islands Race | Newport Harbor and ![]() |
9 March 2013 | ![]() |
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Uncontrollable Urge, Columbia 32 Carbon | [19][20] | |
Chicago-Mackinac Race | ![]() |
21 July 2018 | ![]() |
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Imedi, TP52 | overboard resulting from wave strike | [21] |
2024 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race | ![]() |
26 December 2024 | Roy Quaden (AUS), 55 | ![]() |
Flying Fish Arctos | hit by boom | [22] |
Nick Smith (AUS), 65 | ![]() |
Bowline | hit by mainsheet |
Deaths during yacht races
[edit]Race Name | Host Club | Date | Name | Place | Boat | Description | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Big Boat Series | St. Francis Yacht Club | 18 September 1994 | ![]() |
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Twin Flyer, 38 foot sloop | [23] | |
Commodore Perry Race | North Cape Yacht Club | 3 June 2007 | ![]() |
Lake Erie | J/29 | Boom head injury | |
America's Cup Testing | Golden Gate Yacht Club | 9 May 2013 | ![]() |
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Artemis Racing, AC72, Boat 1 | Entrapped after the boat broke apart and capsized. | |
Antigua Superyacht | 8 March 2022 | ![]() |
Antigua | 102 ft S/Y Farfalla | Training incident with rigging failure causing a head Injury | [24][25] |
References
[edit]- ^ "Yachting: No sport for the faint-hearted - CNN.com". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Volvo Ocean Race 1973-1974"
(Bernie Hosking's name misspelled as "Hocking" in the Leg3 tab; spelled properly in the Leg1 tab.) - ^ Race 1 Summary Archived 2017-04-12 at the Wayback Machine (volvooceanrace.com)
- ^ "Andrew Ashman: Fatal Injury Official Statement". Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ "Fatality Statement - Sarah Young". Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ "Clipper Race fatality: Great Britain crewmember washed overboard". Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ "An Update on John Fisher". Volvo Ocean Race. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ^ "OSTAR History". Royal Western Yacht Club of England.
- ^ "Sailor Struggles With 'What-Ifs' of Boat Race / His friend died after being swept overboard". SFGate. 30 March 1999. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Scuttlebutt: Sailing news with a North American focus". Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ "Transat Jacques Vabre - Paul Vatine Missing".
- ^ "Experts mystified by loss of sailboat and 2 aboard". SFGate. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Sail World - The Worlds largest sailing news network: Sail and sailing, cruising, boating news". Sail-World.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Chicago Mackinac 2012 – Now it's Windquest leading #CYCRTM". Sail-World. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ Chong, Bryan (24 April 2012). "Farallones Survivor's Full Account". Latitude 38. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ Fish, Jake (7 August 2012). "Full report on Farallones Race tragedy released". Sail-World. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ Wilson, Bernie (30 April 2012). "Sailors Saddened by Recent Yacht Race Deaths". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012 – via Weather.com.
- ^ Hardesty, Greg (12 June 2012). "Panel: Newport-Ensenada yacht ran aground". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press (9 March 2013). "1 dead, 5 rescued in Calif. sailboat race accident". USA Today. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Chicago Yacht Club Statement on Recovery of Jon Santarelli". www.cycracetomackinac.com. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Langenberg, Adam (26 December 2024). "Sydney to Hobart organiser says race won't be cancelled following two deaths overnight". ABC News. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ "Routine Race Ends Tragically : Sailing: Perch collapses and ends life of Larry Klein, one of America's brightest hopes, during event in the Bay Area". Los Angeles Times. 23 September 1994. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Sam Richmond passes away".
- ^ "Home". yachtfarfalla.com.