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The
Officers, Directors and Members of
US SAILING
are
pleased to present the
ARTHUR B. HANSON RESCUE MEDAL
to the crew of
for the rescue as follows:
On Saturday, March
20, 2004, The Violetta, a.k.a. "The Pink Boat," was participating in the
66 Series/Angelman Race at Balboa Yacht Club, the 18 plus knot breeze
was building, with gusts of 22 to 25 mph. Crewman Dale Shrout saw a man
clinging to two red seat cushions and yelled, “Man Overboard!” Skipper
Roy Reineman immediately tacked to close the gap with the victim.
Sandy and Tomidan kept constant track of the man's position. After one
attempt to reach the victim, Tomidan grabbed the spinnaker line and
tossed the end to the man, and hit his mark. After getting the victim
to the boat, Tomidan pulled the man on top of him in order to get him
onboard. With the boat underway, the man was passed down below to
Suzanne. Chuck called 911 to let the Harbor Patrol know that we had a
severely hypothermic man aboard, in need of medical assistance. Tomidan
helped Suzanne get the man out of his wet clothes and into some dry
things. After about 10 minutes, the crew learned that his name was John
and was 71 years of age. As John began to warm up, he kept repeating,
"I've been saved! I'm going to live!"
They rounded the
end of the jetty and were met by a fireboat with paramedics aboard. A
paramedic quickly came aboard to assess John's condition and prepare to
transport him to Hoag Hospital.
Congratulations to of Violetta de la Mare
for coming to the aid of a fellow mariner in distress, tending to his
immediate medical needs and saving the victim. US SAILING is pleased to
present the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal in recognition of this event.
Bill
Munster
Chairman, Safety at Sea Committee
By Direction
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The Hanson Medal was presented November 13, 2004
to the crew of
VIOLETTA de le MARE (aka "The Pink Boat")
at Balboa Yacht Club's Annual Awards Banquet
by Balboa Yacht
Club Race Chair Doug Campbell
on behalf of
US SAILING.
Nominator: Howard Neff, Commodore of Balboa YC |
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From left to right: Dale Schrout,
Chuck Iverson (BYC), Sandy Collum, Roy Reineman, Tomidan Jordan,
Suzanne Schuller.
Photo
provided by Balboa Yacht Club. |
From left to right: Carl Carver, Roy
Reinemen, Dale Shrout, Suzanne Schuler, Tomidan Jordan, Sandy
Collum, Chuck Iverson.
Photo
provided by Tomidan Jordan.
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THEIR STORY:
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On Saturday, March 20, 2004, 1500 hours,
while participating in the 66 Series/Angelman
Race, organized and conducted by BYC, the crew of
Violetta de la Mare dropped out of the race to rescue a man
overboard.
Owner: Anthony Delfino, Crew: Carl Carver, Sandy Collum, Chuck
Iverson, Tomidan Jordan, Roy Reineman (skipper), Suzzane Schuler
and Dale Shrout.
The Violetta, a.k.a. "The Pink Boat," was participating in the 66
Series/Angelman Race, and had completed the first half of the
course. The 18 plus knot breeze was building,
with gusts of 22 to 25 mph, and there was a 3
to 5 foot chop. We were in the fourth of seven legs of
the race and about 3/4 of a mile off the Huntington Beach Power
Plants. We had a reefed main, we were flying our #3 jib and we
were still overpowered.
Tomidan was going below to change into his last pair of dry clothes
when Dale yelled, "Man Overboard!" Dale, to his disbelief, saw a
man clinging to two red seat cushions. Roy
immediately tacked to close the gap with the
floating person. On our first attempt to pick up the
person, a big gust of wind blew the boat away as we approached him.
There was an incredibly desperate look in his eyes as we sailed
away and told him, "We will be right back."
As we moved away, Sandy and Tomidan kept
constant track of the man's position. We tacked back and
after what seemed to be forever, we sailed back to his position and
were able to come within 15 feet of him. As we drifted by,
Tomidan attempted to grab the man, but a wave
separated them. Tomidan then grabbed the
spinnaker line and tossed the end to the man, and on the
second try, he hit his mark. The man held on as the line went tight,
and he put his head down. Tomidan pulled him to the transom in
three pulls. Amazingly, the man was able to
hang on! (Thank goodness for Violetta's 6"
freeboard at her transom).
Tomidan pulled the man on top of him in order to get him onboard. At
that same moment, Sandy was knocked down on the deck. Tomidan
rolled the man off him and onto Sandy, but the
three of them were tangled in the running
backstays. Without backstay control, Roy continued to
luff the boat towards the beach as Dale and Carl untangled the three
from the lines. The crew went to work on getting the boat moving
again, and the man very slowly inched his way from the open
transom. With the boat underway, the man was
passed down below to Suzanne.
Chuck called 911 to let the Harbor Patrol know that we had a severely
hypothermic man aboard, in need of medical assistance. Tomidan
helped Suzanne get the man out of his wet
clothes and into some dry things. As soon as
he was dry, Suzanne and Tomidan moved him back onto the
deck so he could be in the sun to aid in raising his body temperature.
Meanwhile with the boat surfing downwind, the rest of the crew
shook out the reef in the main and pressed on
to the committee boat and the harbor.
After about 10 minutes, we learned that his name was John and that he
was alone in the water. Soon John was getting a little color
back into his lips as Dale and Suzanne
massaged him to get his blood circulating
again. We Learned that John was 71 years of age, and we
were shocked because he appeared to be much younger.
We immediately informed the Race Committee of our circumstances.
Shortly after we passed the Newport Pier, the Harbor Patrol boat
came alongside and asked if John could step
aboard their boat. We informed them that John
could not move on his own, and we would have to
transfer him to them once we were in the harbor entrance.
As John began to warm up, he kept repeating, "I've been saved! I'm
going to live!"
We rounded the end of the jetty and were met by a second fireboat with
paramedics aboard. We started up our motor and dropped our sails
as the fireboat came along side of us. A
paramedic quickly came aboard to assess John's
condition. Soon John was strapped to a backboard and
transferred to the fireboat. While some of the crew helped move him,
others answered questions from the firemen. Within minutes, they
were ready and took off for the hospital with
lights flashing, sirens blaring, and leaving a
2-foot wake. We learned that they were taking
him to Hoag Hospital. After answering a few more question from the
other patrol boat, we headed back to our dock.
As we put away the boat, the entire crew was in shock at what had just
transpired. We all wondered at the luck that enabled us to pick
up this man out of a dire situation. Wow! |
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