Shadow Capsizes in Second Half Opener

July 25, 2010

Shadow, Peter Stoneberg's Formula 40 catamaran, was making quick work of the romp around Alcatraz on day 2 of the YRA Second Half Opener. They were the first, and one of the very few, to take the island to port rather than starboard. Around the time of their finish, the wind cranked up to 30+ knot gusts in the Slot.

At 1325 hours, racers listening to VHF 66 heard the Sydney 36 Encore call the Encinal YC race committee. "Shadow just turned upside down. Might want to call the Coast Guard. They're one mile north of the Berkeley Pier."

Shadow reassured those listening, "We're fine. We have all sailors onboard. All are comfortable and fine. We should probably offload the two women aboard, then we'll try to right the boat."

The CG asked Encore to stay on site. They called for any RIB in the area that could get close to Shadow. They called out a Pan Pan at 1330 about "a capsized catamaran west of Treasure Island with six people onboard."

The Marin County Sheriffs had the first RIB on the scene. The SFPD and CG also got RIBS there, and a CG helo overflew the scene.

Encore took the two women onto their boat, using their swim step and a transfer from the EYC crash boat. ©2010 Jennifer McKenna

Shadow tried to kedge themselves upright using borrowed anchors. "We need one more anchor to try to right this boat." Peter requested some help from the Coast Guard RIB, maybe 100 feet of line. Then: "Anybody out there with a 250 hp engine, maybe a Protector? It'll only take a few seconds and you'll be a hero. You'll be in every magazine."

At 1357, Shadow called Vessel Assist; Peter is a member. The EYC RC called St. Francis YC and told Peter, "The office said they'd send a boat over." About a half hour later, Shadow asked EYC to call St. Francis again for an ETA, which they did, telling Shadow that it would be about half an hour. By now, Shadow had been capsized for more than an hour, and Peter was sounding tired.

Cressy, a race committee boat from St. Francis YC, and John Craig, the StFYC Race Manager, got in touch with Shadow to let them know help was on the way.

About the same time, Vessel Assist told Peter that the capsize recovery was not covered by his membership because it was a salvage operation, and that he would be charged $50-$100 per foot, plus $300 per hour, including travel time.

Another large RIB, Tiburon, joined Cressy in the rescue effort. One boat would try to pull the cat over, while the other would pull her bow into the wind. The first effort, around 1600 hours, didn't work.

Continued in our next report.