Escapade’s Greg Dorland Breaks Leg Offshore

"Greg Dorland of the Lake Tahoe-based Catana 52 Escapade severely broke his leg while taking sail down in a thunderstorm outside of Annapolis yesterday," report Bob and Kristin Beltrano of the Annapolis-based Swan 53 Nai’a. "Greg was taken off the boat and to a hospital by the Coast Guard. His wife Debbie continued on to Annapolis alone, a place she’d never been before, and anchored with just one engine, something she’d never done before. We’d been buddyboating with Greg and Debbie since Bermuda, and had talked them into heading to Annapolis."

We spent a bit of time enjoying St. Barth with Greg and Debbie on our respective cats in May, and became pretty good friends. As late as the night before they left the island, they couldn’t decide whether to head for Grenada in the Southern Caribbean or Bermuda and the Northeast United States. Greg opted for the Northeast, as he didn’t feel comfortable leaving his boat in the Caribbean during hurricane season.

Dorland is a very experienced lifelong sailor, having done a lot of racing in his younger days — he won the SC27 Nationals three times. A little more than two years ago, he and Debbie bought Escapade, which they love. After doing a Ha-Ha and Sea of Cortez Sailing Week in ’08, Greg sailed to Hawaii and then back to California doublehanded. He and Debbie did the ’09 Ha-Ha, then continued on through the Canal and to St. Barth, where they won their division in the cruising multihull class of the Voiles. We wish him a fast recovery.