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The
Officers, Directors and Members of
US SAILING
are
pleased to present the
ARTHUR B. HANSON RESCUE MEDAL
to
for the rescue as follows:
On July 2, 2003
the Surf City Yacht Club in Barnegat Bay, NJ held the Junior Commodore
Regatta. Another local
club, Barnegat Light Yacht Club had sent two coach boats with their
junior sailboats who were competing.
Upon returning to Barnegat Light Yacht Club, Becky Mergenthaler
wearing her PFD operating a 13’ Boston Whaler was making a turn into
the harbor when a rogue wave flipped her out of the boat.
The boat started making circles coming closer with each pass.
Jim Roe and
Ryan Miller on the other coach boat, a 20’ Mako, saw this happen and
headed in the direction of the Boston Whaler.
They saw the Boston Whaler run Merganthaler over twice rendering
her unconscious. On the
third rotation it looked as if the motor was lining up to hit
Merganthaler and Roe steered his boat into a t-bone collision to direct
the Boston Whaler away from Merganthaler just in time.
Roe turned the boat again and came alongside
Merganthaler and Miller pulled Merganthaler out of the water over the
transom and set her on the floor of the Mako.
Merganthaler regained consciousness soon thereafter.
A Spray Beach
Yacht Club coach boat used his cell phone to call emergency services.
New Jersey State Marine Police and USCG came out with EMT’s.
EMT’s stayed on board and helped bring Merganthaler to shore.
Merganthaler recoverd completely from this event.
The State Police threw a rope in the propeller of the Boston
Whaler to stop it and Roe went back out and retrieved the Boston Whaler.
Congratulations to Jim Roe and Ryan Miller for
coming to the aid of an injured mariner, protecting the mariner from
additional harm, for saving her soul and clearing the waterway of a
navigational hazard. US
SAILING is pleased to present the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal in
recognition of this event.
Ronald C. Trossbach
Chairman, Safety at Sea Committee
By Direction
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The Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal was awarded
to Jim Roe and Ryan Miller at the meeting of the
Friends of Southern Sailing
on January 13, 2004, at Spray Beach Yacht Club, Long Beach Island, NJ,
by presenter Faye Bennet,
US SAILING Adams Chair,
on behalf of US SAILING.
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Left to right, presenter Faye Bennet, US SAILING Adams Chair, Jim Roe, and
Roger Weber, who nominated Jim Roe and Ryan Miller. Miller
was unable to attend. A second presentation is planned for Barnegat Light Yacht
Club in June 2004.
Photo by Jake
Bennet
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DETAILS:
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Nominators
Name: Roger G. Weber
Event Name: Junior Commodore Regatta
Sponsoring Yacht Club: Surf City Yacht Club
Date of Event: July 2-3,2003
Event City: Surf City
Event State: NJ
Date of Incident: July 2,2003
Body of Water: Barnegat Bay
First Victims Name: Becky Mergenthaler
First Boat Length: 13
First Boat Make Model: Boston Whaler
Rescuing Skipper 1: Jim Roe collided the two boats to prevent them from
running over Becky & Ryan Miller pulled her out over the transom.
Spray beach coach boat came along and used his cell phone to call
emergency. Another boat
came along with an EMT volunteered to look at Becky.
New Jersey State Marine Police and USCG came out with EMT’s.
EMT’s stayed on board and helped bring the boat to shore.
State Police threw a rope in the propeller to stop it and Jim had
to go back out later to pull it in.
Rescuing Boat: 20' Mako
What was the nature of this incident: Rescue
Did a Mayday call go out:
Who responded: Barnegat Light Coast Guard and the Atlantic City Marine
Police
Was any injury sustained by the victim: Y
Can your story be published: Y
Can you provide articles about this event: N
Was a PFD worn: ?
What position was the victim working before they went in: captain
Was this day or night: D
What recovery method was used: Reach
Was a rescue swimmer put in the water: N
What happened:
After the regatta Becky M. was returning her boat back to her
yacht club, Barnegat Light Yacht Club. Jim Roe was following. Evidently,
when she turned the boat she was hit by a wake at the same time and was
flipped out of the boat. No kill switch was being worn at the time and
her boat started doing circles coming back closer to her with each pass.
It appeared that by the third pass the boat motor was going to hit her.
Jim placed his boat between Becky and the runaway outboard absorbing the
crash. The runaway boat managed to glance off Becky and she was pulled
out of the water. She was taken to Southern Ocean County Hospital and
released
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Talking
to Jim Roe, he had a partner onboard,
Ryan Miller who did a lot of the work.
The boats actually t-boned.
Pro’s got involved too.
PFD
Yes. Becky's Boat 13’ Whaler, Jim Roe 20’ Mako.
Went
to turn into cove at ICW and a rogue wave hit and threw her. |
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