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Other names | Cape Fear 38 |
---|---|
Yacht club | Texas A&M University at Galveston |
Nation | |
Designer(s) | Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. |
Builder |
|
Launched | 2006 |
Owner(s) | Texas A&M University - Galveston |
Fate | Capsized June 6, 2008 in the Gulf of Mexico killing 1 crew member, the safety officer on board. |
Specifications | |
Type | Sloop ~ Fin Keel with Bulb |
Displacement | 11,800 lb (5,400 kg) |
Length | 38 ft (12 m) |
Beam | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
Draft | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
Mast height | 48 ft (15 m) |
Sail area | 800 sq ft (74 m2) |
Crew |
|
The SV Cynthia Woods was a sailing vessel owned by Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) and used by The TAMUG Sailing Team. It was manufactured in 2005 and donated to TAMUG by George P. Mitchell. [1] The Cynthia Woods was named for his wife Cynthia Woods Mitchell.
On June 6, 2008, the Cynthia Woods set sail in the Regatta de Amigos with a 6-person crew consisting of the captain (a university employee), along with four sailing team members (TAMUG students), and one safety officer who was a volunteer. The sailing yacht commenced the sailboat race in Galveston, Texas at 2:00p.m. local time. The Cape Fear 38 was destined for a 638 nautical miles (1,182 km; 734 mi) salt water sailing cruise along the Gulf of Mexico coast to Veracruz, Mexico with the Regatta Amigos occurring at the Isla Mujeres island. [2]
The Cape Fear monohull is believed to have lost its 6 feet (1.8 m) bulb keel jeopardized[ clarification needed] by a fluctuating sea state in the night. The Northern Hemisphere subtropical zone was mercurial with severe weather encompassing Tropical Storm Alma and Tropical Storm Arthur developing as a perfect storm phenomenon[ citation needed] situated along the east coast of Central America and the Yucatán Channel of the Caribbean Sea by late May and early June 2008. [3] [4]
The Cape Fear 38 was equipped with two search and rescue transponders: a main one attached to the boat and a portable one provided by race officials for monitoring. The main transponder stopped working around midnight on June 6 and the portable stopped working around 9:00 a.m. the next morning. [5] The crew missed their scheduled 8:00 a.m. check-in call on June 7. [6]
Safety officer Roger Stone woke the crew in the lower deckhouse alerting the squad of the boat consuming seawater before Mr. Stone became displaced[ clarification needed] in the marginal sea. [5] A sailboat matching the description of the missing Cape Fear 38 feet (12 m) monohull was spotted in a capsized state by a Coast Guard aircraft at 5:15 p.m. on June 8, 2008. [7] The navigational crew orderly escaped the turtling sloop while staying afloat using four personal flotation devices in four-to-six-foot seas for 26 hours before being found by the United States Coast Guard air-sea rescue and subsequently culled from the Gulf of Mexico waters. [5] The survivors were lifted to safety by helicopter at around 1:00 a.m. on June 8 and flown to a hospital in Galveston for treatment. [7] [8]