THE SINKING OF WHODO

For the 1D48 WhoDo it wasn’t even close to being the first broach, having already blown out both a spinnaker and a pair of tack lines the night before. But it was definitely the last.

The crew of 10 was just entering the Manitou Passage midway through the second day of the race in a 20 to 25-knot breeze under overcast skies, when the boat went over on its side again. This time, though, when it popped back up onto an even keel, the helmsman immediately called out that he’d lost steerage.

Worse yet, looking below the crew saw water gushing in through a 10in hole where the rudder post had been only moments earlier.

“I really don’t know why it broke loose,” crewmember Russell Madsen said afterward, dismissing the idea that the boat had hit some kind of floating debris, maybe a log, as was rumored in the immediate wake of the accident. “I just know it was unbelievable how fast the water came gushing in. It was up to our knees in no time. By the time we got into the liferaft it was up to our waists.”

Luckily, at the time of the accident it was not only broad daylight, but the fleet had compressed appreciably in order to make its way through the Manitous, so that there were a number of boats in the vicinity that immediately diverted to lend assistance following WhoDo’s first Mayday.

As a result, Madsen said no more than 10 minutes went by from the time the boat lost its rudder to when the entire crew was safe aboard the C&C 30 City Girl, owned by Mark Bremer of the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. City Girl then motored to Leland, Michigan, where it dropped off its unexpected passengers.

As for WhoDo, she remained afloat with her decks fully awash thanks to the fact that her water ballast tanks were empty, eventually grounding ashore in 30ft of water, where she was salvaged and towed to Charlevoix, Michigan.

According to Madsen, the veteran crew remained calm throughout the incident, being fully prepared thanks to both their decades of combined sailing experience and the fact they had gone through a man-overboard drill and some other emergency procedures only a short while before the start.

Madsen also said he had nothing but good things to say about the seamanship and integrity of not only City Girl, but of all the boats that diverted from racing when they learned WhoDo was in distress. “They’re the real winners of the race if you ask me,” Madsen said.— AC