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Tuesday, 18 August 2009 |
Rougarou rescues two kayakers.
On Wednesday August 12, while participating in the NOYC Wednesday Night Series Rougarou rescued two kayakers on Lake Pontchartrain. The wind direction was out of the south. Rougarou had set the big red asymmetrical spinnaker at the start and was in the lead by the time it arrived at the J mark off Franklin Avenue. Rougarou jibed around J mark and started close reaching under jib towards the finish. The sun had set and the crew of Rougarou were enjoying the colors on the horizon when Burt Benrud spotted an outline low on the water. The shape was far ahead between Rougarou and A mark.
Forward on the boat, Edward Levert and Matt Knoll confirmed the sighting and speculated the shape to be one person on a kayak also enjoying the colors. Al Gooch was navigating, directing Johnny Lovell on the location of the layline. Norman Vallette was trimming the mainsail and Shelby Friedrichs was on jib trim. The wind shifted after spotting the kayak and the race to the finish became a beat. The focus was on maintaining the lead in the race and finding the Committee Boat. Rougarou was initially knocked north and Al called for a tack towards shore. That course lasted less than one minute as the jib was suddenly backwinded. Johnny immediately turned the tiller and headed back out north. He maintained that course for a short period of time but he found the boat getting knocked down again on a course farther away from the finish. Rougarou tacked again towards the shore and a discussion ensued on the wind direction. Johnny speculated that we were in between two wind lines and that the new breeze was going to be coming from the shore. The boat was tacked back towards the shore to catch the new wind. In the dying light of the evening, as the crew completed the tack, the crew regained sight of the kayak. It was as if the “wind gods” were directing Rougarou toward the kayak. The kayak was now between Rougarou and the shore. As it was getting dark, the decision was made to go see if the occupant of the kayak was okay. As we neared, we were hailed for assistance. It was then that the crew realized that there was a female in the boat and a male friend in the water. Johnny guided Rougarou alongside the kayak and the sails were luffed. Edward, Matt, Shelby, Norman and Burt reached over the lifelines and helped the couple into Rougarou. It was the female’s (Simonet) first time in a kayak. The rescue happened almost one mile north of Bayou St John. The kayak was put in the water at Pontchartrain Beach and capsized when they were trying to deploy a sail. Simonet and her friend speculated that he had been in the water for half an hour. They were wearing lifejackets but did not have signaling lights, a radio or a cell phone to call for assistance. The crew asked them if they were okay and offered them something to drink. It was apparent that Simonet’s friend was very tired from being in the water, embarrassed and grateful to be picked up. Seeing that they were okay, Al Gooch told them we were in the middle of a race and that we were going to continue on to finish and then drop them and the kayak off at the SYC junior dock. At the finish, Rougarou circled the committee boat and notified them of the rescue. At the Junior Dock, Shelby called them a taxi so they could return to their car. In spite of the delay in the rescue, Rougarou was able to capture first in class and first in fleet.
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