Monterey Death Investigation Report Released

US Sailing has released a report detailing the results of their investigation into the death of Rick Srigley. You may recall that Srigley, 77, fell off his Moore 24 Morpheus during Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club’s first Wednesday night race of the season on March 13. Four men actually went overboard that evening. Winds were in the 20- to 25-knot range, with waves up to six feet — uncomfortable but not excessive conditions for the boats involved. Other boats declined to race — including the Shields fleet — or retired before starting.

When Srigley fell overboard, Morpheus was beating to the windward mark. No one saw him enter the water, but one of the crew took the helm, another spotted their skipper, and another called a Mayday. In compliance with the race’s rules, Srigley was wearing a PFD. It was an inflatable model sold around 2003, and it did not inflate. The crew attempted a ‘Figure 8’ recovery, but missed on the first pass.

On the second try, the crew on the tiller, Jeff, took Rick’s hand and heard him say, “Hurry.” Another crew, Dale, was coiling a throw line when he fell into the water. His PFD inflated, and he fastened the line around himself. The crew pulled him back to the boat and helped him get aboard. (Note that to protect the crewmembers’ privacy, the report uses only their first names.)

Meanwhile, the crew of the Express 37 LocaMotion had spotted Morpheus’s crew in the water. They dropped their jib and motored over to assist. They noted that Srigley was now floating facedown. The boom on LocaMotion was flailing, and the mainsheet tackle struck one of the Express 37 crew, David, stunning him and sending him overboard. Using a horseshoe buoy on a tether, the LocaMotion crew retrieved David, who had a gash on his forehead.

Another LocaMotion crew, Alfredo, offered to swim to Rick’s aid. He is an ocean swimmer in local waters, so his skipper allowed him to go in. He stripped off his PFD, jumped in, and swam Rick to the transom of Morpheus, but the crew were not able to get him aboard. When the Coast Guard arrived, they took Rick onto their vessel. He was then transported to the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, where he was pronounced dead. After rescuing Srigley, the Coasties disposed of his PFD, so it’s not known if was in automatic or manual inflation mode.

The post-mortem report showed no sign of alcohol or drugs, but there was a fracture of the C1 cervical vertebra and several broken ribs. The neck fracture could have been caused by impact with the boat as Srigley fell overboard. Efforts to revive him using CPR could have broken some ribs.

Chuck Hawley, on behalf of US Sailing Safety Committee chair Sally Honey (who was offshore at the time), assembled a working party to investigate. Hawley recruited Michael Moradzadeh (chair), commodore of Pacific Cup YC; Jean DuPreez, rear commodore of MPYC; Craig French, a staff commodore of Santa Cruz YC; Bill Lee, the famous yacht designer from Santa Cruz; Jerry Stratton, a Shields sailor, PRO and US Sailing judge; and Kent Benedict, MD (medical consultant). MPYC, US Sailing and the USCG cooperated in the investigation.

The report makes several recommendations regarding:

• Lifejacket maintenance, procedure and practice
• MOB practice and reboarding gear
• Wearing bright clothing
• Staying on the boat (lifelines, tethers)
• VHF communications

You can read the complete report here: www.ussailing.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Morpheus-Report-2019.pdf.

MPYC lost a second member, John Ruck, to drowning on July 7. “They believe John fell off the dock while getting on his boat at night,” said Jeff Canepa.