Sailors Medevaced from SoCal 300
The second event in the third California Offshore Race Week, the Coastal Cup from Monterey to Santa Barbara on May 28-29, suffered from light air, but the third passage, the SoCal 300 from Santa Barbara to San Diego by way of the Channel Islands on May 31-June 2, had breeze to spare. "The SoCal 300 was on fire," reports Mike Reed, crew aboard the SC50 Hana Ho, "with 35 knots for most of the night and two critical injuries on two different boats requiring Coast Guard air evacuation."
The USCG reports that on Thursday, May 31, a Coast Guard helicopter crew medevaced a 32-year-old man from Bob Bethink’s Rogers 46 Bretwalda3 south of Santa Cruz Island.
At 6:55 p.m., Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach watchstanders overheard a conversation via VHF channel 16 about an injured man aboard the boat. A Bretwalda3 crewmember reported that the man sustained a leg injury after a line wrapped around his leg, leaving it with no pulse.
After consulting with a duty flight surgeon, watchstanders dispatched a Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco Forward Operating Base Mugu MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew to medevac the man. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands Harbor also launched a 45-ft Response Boat-Medium crew to assist.
The Dolphin crew arrived on scene, hoisted the man and transported him to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where he was reported to be in stable condition.
Then, in the early morning hours of Friday, June 1, a Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced an injured 48-year-old woman from Jim Puckett’s Farr 57 Amazing Grace 70 miles west of San Clemente Island. At approximately 2:15 a.m. Friday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector San Diego’s Joint Harbor Operations Center received a request for assistance from the crew of Amazing Grace after the crewmember suffered a head injury from the boat’s boom.
A Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched to assist. Due to the distance from shore, a Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 aircraft also launched to provide radio coverage.
At 4:39 a.m., the Jayhawk crew arrived on scene and hoisted the woman aboard the helicopter. At 6:30 a.m., she arrived at Scripps Memorial Hospital, in La Jolla. Conditions on scene consisted of eight-ft seas and 10-knot winds.
We’ll have reports from the Spinnaker Cup, Coastal Cup and SoCal 300 in Racing Sheet in the July issue of Latitude 38, including a write-up from Mike Reed.