Transponder Info Clarifies Aegean Tragedy

At least part of the mystery of how the Redondo Beach-based Hunter 376 Aegean was destroyed during last weekend’s Lexus Newport to Ensenada Race may have been solved. Aegean‘s SPOT Messenger GPS track shows the boat on a constant course and speed for more than three hours — leading them directly onto the rocky shore of North Coronado Island. This almost certainly eliminates the possibility that Aegean was hit by a ship, which had been the most prevalent initial speculation.

Lt. Bill Fitzgerald of USCG Sector San Diego says that investigators "have a substantial amount of evidence of a particular scenario," and Aegean‘s running into the island was "one of the primary possibilities." He noted that the GPS track was just one of the pieces of evidence. Fitzgerald was also quick to point out that investigators are not ready to announce a conclusion at this point, but hope to do so soon.

The rest of the mystery is why Aegean was kept on a constant course toward a solid obstruction. It’s possible that the crew was overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty exhaust. It’s possible that whoever was on watch at that late hour fell asleep. There are other possible explanations also, of course. We may never know the full story. For what it’s worth, Theo Mavromatis, who chartered the boat, is said to have been an experienced skipper, which is supported by the fact that he’d won his division in the Ensenada Race on two previous occasions.

A few people have clung to the ‘hit by a ship’ theory based on that fact that Low Speed Chase, which went onto the rocky shore of the Farallones during the huge surf of the Full Crew Farallones Race on April 14, remained intact enough to be removed from the island by helicopter, while Aegean, in much smaller four-foot swells, appears to have been broken into small pieces. It doesn’t seem curious to us, as Low Speed Chase appeared to have been washed up on a ledge, while Aegean mostly likely was repeatedly slammed against a steep and jagged shore. It was something like six hours between the time her GPS signal was lost and the first bits of her were discovered near the island by Eric Lamb of Vessel Assist. Given a sufficiently jagged shore, that’s plenty of time for a fiberglass boat to be left in little pieces.

The San Diego County medical examiner reports that Kevin Eric Rudolph, 53, of Manhattan Beach, died of blunt force injuries to his head and neck; William Reed Johnson Jr., 57, of Torrance, died of multiple blunt force injuries; and Joseph Lester Stewart, 64, of Bradenton, FL, drowned. Theo Mavromatis, 49, is still missing.

The Aegean tragedy marks the first fatalities in the Newport to Ensenada Race, which has been held for 65 years, and at the height of popularity attracted well over 500 entries. We think it’s worth noting that most major sailing events on the West Coast — the TransPac, the Pacific Cup, the Singlehanded TransPac, and the Baja Ha-Ha have all had long histories without any fatalities. This is not to say that it can’t happen in those events, or that there was anything about the Ensenada Race that made it unusually risky, but rather that West Coast offshore racing events are generally quite safe.