Loaded with 5 Nacra Infussions and all gear, our 24 ft enclosed trailer crashed on Friday and seems like it will likely be totalled by the insurance company. Trailer left the Boston, MA area headed for F18NA's in Long Beach. 5 boats were disassembled, on two racks inside the trailer with the masts attached to a rack on the roof. Same set up was used last fall and winter for F18NA's, steeplechase, tradewinds, and Tybee500, returning all boats to New England after the tybee last fall. In prep for doing the cross country trip, we had a mechanic go over the trailer for a full inspection of brakes, bearings, and tires. Boats were loaded last weekend and on Friday the 24th, Jim and Nora Zelmer started the western trek. 4.5 hours into the drive they experienced significant sway of the trailer behind them while driving at 55-60 mph, slowed down to control it, and immediately were swung around 180 degrees through the lines of traffic and ended up facing the opposite direction on the highway. The trailer had blown a tire and in the end had taken out a highway sign, chain link fence, and narrowly missed an 18-wheeler. A fence post went through the front of the enclose trailer, highway sign took out a mast and crunched the body of the trailer, popping the welds on the mast rack. All 5 masts and the rack ended up on the highway. The force of the tailspin bent one or both of the axles on the trailer, and the sway bars bent the frame/tongue of the trailer. Amazingly, the E250 van and trailer did not roll over, and NOONE WAS HURT! The boats were ok on first inspection minus major damage to 3 of the 5 masts, and some damage to another. Everything was insured, but we still have a long way to go to figure out all the damages and who will be covering what.
The weekend was spent retrieving three of the boats and getting a double stack trailer to the crash site to have two of the boats continue on to Long Beach, CA. We are hoping that two of the other teams will be able to negotiate charters.
An awful event, with the potential to have been so much worse.
Chris
