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This is Page 1 of 5 of Oriental Cup 2004
(many
of the photos in this story were provided by "MixSailPix"
- Mick Roberts. Mick took a lot of photos at the regatta - they
are available for sale - contact Mick at claire@always-online.com
)
The weather spawned
by Hurricane Ivan made itself felt at Saturday’s Oriental
Cup Regatta. The winds blew hard – 20 knots. As a result,
the sails on at least three boats tore.
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Strong winds heeled boats over - you could do a complete
examination of BluePrint's bottom (photo by MixSailPix)
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Some teams
went shrimping with their spinnakers. And in the most dramatic
turn of events, one woman sailor was thrown overboard.
Woman
Overboard
Wilma Kennedy was crewing on Simon Whitehead’s boat when
an accidental jibe flung her in to the Neuse.
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Wilma recounts her overboard story while Simon looks on.
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The first
thing she recalled was seeing the bottom of the boat (“It
was dirty!”) and then seeing the rest of the vessel moving
away. “It was the first time I watched a boat sail away
without me!”
Though they later joked about having to decide between making
the mark and rescuing Wilma, the crew didn’t “sail
away” for long.
Wilma says the crew ‘did everything right’ in a
(wo)man overboard situation. From her vantage point in the water,
she watched as they threw her a life preserver/cushion, dropped
the jib, started the motor. And true to the drill, Wilma says,
“Bruce was pointing at me all the time,” while the
rest brought the boat back to her.
We asked if Wilma had fallen overboard before. First answer
- "I don't want to answer that question." But later
Wilma revealed that she went overboard earlier this year in
an Etchells race in Charleston. In that instance, though, she
was able to cling to the stanchion. The Oriental Cup Regatta
2004 was “my first total immersion.”
For her troubles, she earned a special Woman Overboard Honor
at Sunday’s awards ceremony:
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Awards MC Keith Smith presents Wilma with the "Woman
Overboard Award" (a yellow PFD donated by Pirate
Queen Paddling). Simon Whitehead and Joe Bliss enjoy the
moment.
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