37th Annual Fowey Light Distance Race
Miami, FL
November 20, 2005
The day's race activity was completely overshadowed by an amazing event that occurred after the race. Jay Sonnenklar was able to save a life. He rescued a young girl from drowning right off the Rickenbacker Beach. I asked him to chronicle the events so that the details are accurate. Following is his personal account of the rescue.
"We had landed, and I had put on dry clothes. I was just starting to take down the jib when a young man approached and starting to talk to me in Spanish. He seemed agitated and was persistent in getting my attention. He was pointing to a teenaged girl in the water about 60 feet from shore. She was separated from her float and appeared to be drowning. At first I thought she was playing around, but soon I was convinced she was really drowning. I took off my shirt and glasses and ran into the shark infested waters... I mean condom and broken glass infested waters. As I got closer I could hear the panic in her screams. I swam fast, and as I got close she went under. I reached down, saw her white T-shirt, and grasped at it, pulling her head to the surface. She came up gasping and flailing and latched on. She was small, 12 or 13 years old, and I was able to one hand doggy paddle her in. The strange thing was the water depth was not that great, 7 or 8 feet was all. I guess how much over your head does not matter. Overall it was a perfect day for a rescue, and her family was very thankful."
Wow! Three cheers for Jay. His quick thinking and fast reaction saved this girl from losing her life. He was presented with a challenge and met the challenge with courage and conviction. His execution of the rescue was flawless. The rescue was a compilation of good timing, skill, and fast action. Congratulations Jay! Job well done!
We also held the 37th annual Fowey Light Distance race this day. The race had been postponed from October, when the weather was too rough to go into the ocean and around Fowey Light. By waiting, we were rewarded with a day with perfect conditions. A few days before the race it looked like the race would once again be in jeopardy from tropical storm Gamma. Another storm, that's all we needed here in South Florida.
Seven teams showed up to participate in this classic beach cat race. I learned that several other boats were not ready to sail because they were still partially dismantled from Hurricane Wilma preparations or had damage from previous storms. That was unfortunate, because it turned out to be a great race. The wind forecast was for 10 to 15 out of the east and that is what we got. We had ideal single and double trapeze conditions going upwind out to Fowey Light. The race started just off the Rickenbacker Beach. We skirted the shallows along the west side of Key Biscayne. As we passed Southwest Point, I noticed numerous bayside houses which had their tile roofs trashed by Wilma. The race continued past the Cape Florida Lighthouse and out into the ocean. The wave action increased once we were in the ocean. The port tacks were a real joy. We were on a roller coaster ride as we paralleled the wave crests and troughs. The starboard tacks were a bit more of a challenge. We were heading straight into three to four foot waves. We would fly off the crests and smack down in the troughs. It was a bit of a pounding with lots of spray soaking us down. After of couple of cold water showers down the neck, I cinched up the collar on my foul weather gear. It wasn't cold when wearing the right gear.
Jay Sonnenklar and Terry Greene lead the entire way out to Fowey. They had their Inter 20 really flying. Oriol and I were in hot pursuit on my Hobie 20, but we could not catch them. We were followed by two Hobie 16s. The first H-16 was skippered by teenager, Sarah Newberry, and crewed by her uncle, Jamie Livingston. They were doing very well in the bay and hanging very close to the 20 foot boats. The next H-16 was crewed by father and daughter team, Dave and Andi Tardif. The other three boats, for one reason or another, elected not to venture all the way out to Fowey.
The water is always very pretty out by Fowey. But this year, it wasn't quite as spectacular because there was an overcast sky. The crews were given a choice to round the 110 foot tall lighthouse either way, port or starboard. After rounding Fowey, it was time for the downwind sleigh ride. The Sonnenklar/Greene boat extended their lead when the chute came out. The port tack allowed for some fun surfing down the face of the waves. The key was to keep the boat heated up and look over your shoulder behind the boat for a good wave to catch. When you caught the wave, you could bare off as the boat accelerated. The increased speed would last until the wave outran the boat. It is rides like this that make up for all the hard work we do to prepare to sail these boats.
The race finished with a nice reach back up the bay past Key Biscayne. Jay and Terry, on the Inter 20, took it all. They were first to finish and first on corrected. Oriol and I, on my Hobie 20, were second to finish and second on corrected time. Sarah and Jamie, on the Hobie 16 were third boat in and a very close third on corrected time. Dave and Andi took fourth on their Hobie 16. It was a very good race day. Make your plans to attend the 38th annual running of this race in October of 2006.
The participants were as follows:
Crew--------------------------Boat-----------Rating----Elapsed-----Corrected
Jay Sonnenklar-----------Inter 20-------59.3-------2:45:00------166.90
Terry Greene
John McKnight------------Hobie 20-----65.0-------3:15:47------181.16
Oriol Cruzeta
Sarah Newberry-----------Hobie 16-----76.1------3:51:47------182.74
Jamie Livingston
Dave Tardif------------------Hobie 16-----76.1
Andi Tardif
Fermin de la Camara----Prindle 19---66.4
Ramon Alonso
Peck Sukphisit------------Prindle 16---77.5
Dave Schulman
Wally Sullivan--------------Hobie 16-----76.1
Marion Lohmayer
John McKnight
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