Debate Continues, Investigative Panel Announced
Philosophically, we at Latitude 38 have always been much more in favor of personal responsibility than we are of big and/or nanny government. Nonetheless — and perhaps mostly in deference to the families of those who lost their lives in the terrible Low Speed Chase tragedy — we have sort of grudgingly accepted Captain of the Port Cindy Stowe’s decision to suspend offshore racing until an investigation can be completed. The grudging acceptance is based on the assumption that the suspension won’t be for more than a month, and that the investigative panel will primarily consist of sailors with lots of experience in the relatively unique conditions that are to be found when racing in the often relatively shallow waters of the Gulf of Farallones and near the Farallones in particular.
We have nevertheless been somewhat shocked at the degree of vehemence with which some readers have written to us to object to the suspension. Some who object note that if a commercial airliner crashes, the National Transportation and Safety Board doesn’t immediately cancel all commercial flights. They want to know why sailing is being treated differently. It’s a good question. Others object in large part because they believe that the cause of the Low Speed Chase tragedy is painfully obvious. The boat was driven into water far too shallow for the sea conditions. The following letter, from Al Hiller, who describes himself as a San Francisco sailor who has raced and cruised offshore since ’72, does a particularly good job of explaining this point of view:
"If the US Coast Guard wants to make ocean racing safer in Northern California, they should put a limiting buoy off the western point of Maintop Bay at Southeast Farallon, which would put it outside of the 15-fathom line. This would prevent a Low Speed Chase accident from ever occurring again." [Editor’s note: A fathom is six feet, so 15 fathoms is 90 feet.]
"Unfortunately, Low Speed Chase cut the corner on a shallow shoal in somewhat rough conditions, and an outside set got them. It immediately put them into beach-break conditions hundreds of yards offshore, and into an impossible situation. There is no safety equipment that could have saved them in those conditions. The bottom line is that driver and/or crew error put the boat there. If they had been watching their fathometer, and stayed outside the 15-fathom line, this would not have happened.
"If one examines a chart of the Southeast Farallon, one will see that where Low Speed Chase went onto the rocks is the largest shoal on the island. It’s a four-fathom shoal that extends many hundreds of yards offshore, and which at the outer edge is very close to the 10-fathom line. This creates a condition similar to that of the famous Mavericks surf break, where long period swells are ‘grabbed’ and slammed against a very steep underwater rock wall that shoals from over 15 fathoms to 4 fathoms in a distance of only a few hundred feet.
"Oceanography 101 — Long period waves react with the bottom, slow down, and start to stand up in water depths of 10 times their vertical height. Thus a 10-ft swell starts to stand up and become cycloidal surf as it hits the 16-fathom line. By the time it hits the 4-fathom line, many hundreds of yards off the western point of Maintop Bay, the larger waves have already turned into huge, breaking surf.
"A change in the racing instructions could prevent future accidents of this type. In my opinion, the Coast Guard’s over-reaction to this accident shows their lack of understanding of the issues involving seamanship, navigation and sea sense."
Experts say that waves generally break in water 1.3 times as deep as they are tall. For instance, a 6-ft wave will generally break in about 8 feet of water, while a 20-ft wave will generally break in about 27 feet of water. But as Hiller noted above, the bathymetry — or underwater contour of the bottom — can dramatically effect the height of waves. That’s why waves at places such as Mavericks are much bigger than at other spots nearby.
We’re pleased to note that the investigation panel called for by the Coast Guard and put together by US Sailing, which governs yacht racing in the United States, will mostly be comprised of very experienced sailors with lots of Northern California ocean experience. The Chair is Sally Honey, a former sailmaker who has done a lot of local and long-distance offshore racing, shorthanded and with full crew, often with her husband Stan, a world-renowned racer, on their Cal 40 Illusion; Jim Cornenman, a former Alameda resident who raced in multiple Pacific Cups before circumnavigating with the Schumacher 52 Heart of Gold, and co-founder, with Stan Honey, of SailMail. Others include: Professional race officer John Craig of San Rafael, Bartz Schneider of San Francisco, West Marine’s Chuck Hawley of Santa Cruz, Evans Starzinger of Milford, CT (an offshore special regs consultant), Jim Wildey of Annapolis, MD (who will advise on investigation procedures and formats), and medical advisors Dr. Michael Jacobs and Dr. Kent Benedict of Aptos.
"The panel understands the urgency of this review and anticipates completing initial findings and recommendations to be released to the public in June," said a US Sailing press release. "For relevant inquiries regarding the Farallones review or to provide pertinent information and helpful commentary on the incident or race, please email US Sailing.
It’s an excellent panel. While we don’t think they will come up with any surprises as to why the tragedy occurred, we’ll be very interested to hear what recommendations, if any, they have to reduce the risk of similar tragedies in the future. We also sincerely hope they can make their recommendations before May 25, the start of the Spinnaker Cup, a race from San Francisco Bay to Monterey Bay.