Navigating a Hawaiian inlet with a known reef hazard and breaking surf can test any skipper’s mettle.
The captain of the 46-foot racing sailboat Boomerang did not succeed, running hard aground on the reef. All 13 people aboard had to be rescued. The boat was competing in a local race.
Take a look at the accident, courtesy of KHON-TV, Channel 2, in Honolulu.
Witnesses say several sailboats were trying to return to the Ala Wai Harbor through the channel when 7- to 10-foot waves pushed Boomerang into the reef.
“One wave broke, pushed us back, passed … basically the keel hit the reef. We lost steering, then got stuck,” Eric DeCarlo, one of the crewmembers, told KITV-TV, Channel 4, in Honolulu. “Wave after wave kept hitting us and pushed us across the reef.”
No one was injured, but those who were rescued were cold from exposure to the water. A salvage company pulled the stranded yacht off the reef.
