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Caribbean 1500 Tragedy

Laura Zekoll was an avid sailor and adventurer, even after losing the use of her right arm from a motorcycle accident at 16.

Toni Ralston
©2010 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

Laura Zekoll, 46, of Atlanta, Georgia, who had been a member of the Caribbean 1500 fleet aboard Rule 62, a Jeanneau 46DS, is presumed to have been lost at sea on November 13 or 14 after the liferaft she and the rest of the crew were in flipped, dumping them all into the water near Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas. Earlier that evening, the boat’s owners, Richard and Debra Ross, also from Atlanta, had advised the Caribbean 1500 that they were not going to complete the course from Hampton, Virginia, to the British Virgins, but rather were going to divert to Marsh Harbor because Debra and Laura were seasick, according to CRA spokesperson Julie Palm. Eleven of the 80 boats in the Caribbean 1500 had already opted to be in the Bahamas Class and sail to Marsh Harbor instead of the British Virgins. Because they had started earlier than the rest of the fleet, most of them had already arrived in the Bahamas.

At about 9 p.m. local time on Sunday, Rule 62 hit a reef “attempting to enter the Bahamas,” and Richard and Laura were washed overboard. However both were recovered. With Rule 62 helpless on the reef, Richard, Debbie, Laura, and fourth crewmember David Shepard of Ellsorth, Maine, put on PFDs, got into the liferaft, and attempted to row to shore in the dark. After becoming separated from Laura, Richard, Debra and David made it to the shore. An extensive search for Laura Zekoll was undertaken by the U.S. Coast Guard and numerous resources from the Bahamas, but she couldn’t be found. Our condolences to her family and friends. The others were air-lifted to safety in reasonably good health.

Rule 62’s track (purple) shows that the boat took a sharp detour halfway through the course.

© Caribbean 1500

This year’s Caribbean 1500 — the 21st and final one for founder Steve Black — was a bit star-crossed. Because the course to the BVIs was threatened by Tropical Storm Tomas, the 70 or so boats intending to sail to the British Virgins had their starting date postponed seven days, from November 1 until November 8 — although two boats left early. The Bahamas Class, which was to stop further down the East Coast, as opposed to sailing offshore all the way, was also delayed, but not as long. It fragmented a bit, too. The group sailing to the BVIs was hit by gusts to over 50 knots, with seas reported as big as 15 to 20 feet. Before it was all over, boats had dropped out in a number of places from the East Coast of the U.S. to Puerto Rico.

As we’ve noted many times, the Caribbean 1500 course is almost always a much more difficult one than the Baja Ha-Ha, as it’s twice as long, there are few places of refuge, and the weather is usually considerably more challenging. Sunsets, Howard Weiss and Kelly Reed’s MacGregor 65, hailing port not listed, took line honors in the BVI fleet.

1 Comment

  1. Angie (Cushwa) Racine 2 years ago

    I am the sister of Laura Zekoll. Your article is grossly inaccurate. I find it rather shocking how far off it is from the little known facts because Richard fled the islands that night and I could not get him on the phone for 4 days. What I know is that Richard lost her at sea, then fabricated a story. So if you got this information from him I would like to know. I find it a terrible fact that too many people are just trying to get content onto the electronic platform with little to no care about the facts… Thank you.

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