List of fatal accidents in sailboat racing

Sailboat racing is risky, but less dangerous than it was in the past. Sailboat racing was started as a thrill sport, to push the limits of the boats and operator's limits. Modern safety and communication equipment has improved safety, but the ocean is unpredictable and the goal is still to test the abilities of the boat and crew, which carries risk.

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Accidents during Crewed Round the Worlds Races and Record Attempts

Race Name	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description
Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Race	1973	Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking
Volvo Ocean Race	18 May 2006	Hans Horrevoets (NED)	Off Land End	ABN Amero Volvo 70	Washed overboard and recovered
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race	5 Sep 2015	Andrew Ashman (GBR)[1]		IchorCoal / Clipper 70	Head Injury Boom/Mainsheet
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race	1 April 2016	Sarah Young (GBR)[2]		IchorCoal / Clipper 70	Swept overboard

Accidents during Solo Round the Worlds Races and Record Attempts

Race Name	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description
Vendée Globe	1992	Nigel Burgess (GBR)
Vendée Globe	1997	Gerry Roufs (CA)

Accidents during Singlehanded Racing

Race Name	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description
		()

Accidents during Offshore Racing

Race Name	Host Club	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description
1979 Fastnet race	Royal Ocean Racing Club		15 Sailors
1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race	Cruising Yacht Club of Australia	27 December 1998	Phillip Charles Skeggs Bruce Raymond Guy		Business Post Naiad	drowned heart attack
		28 December 1998	John Dean, James Lawler and Michael Bannister		Winston Churchill	all drowned
		28 December 1998	Glyn Charles (GBR)		Sword of Orion
Doublehanded Farallones Race		27 March 1999	Harvey Shlasky (USA), 51, of Berkeley, California		White Lightning, J/29	,[3][4]
Doublehanded Lightship Race	Island Yacht Club of Alameda	16 March 2008	Matthew Gale (USA), 68, Mill Valley, California  Anthony Harrow (USA), 72, Larkspur, California		Daisy, Cheoy Lee Offshore 31	[5]
Cowes-Cherbourg Race	Royal Ocean Racing Club	June 2011	Chris Reddish (GBR), 46		Lion, Reflex 38	[6]
Farallones Race	San Francisco Yacht Club	14 April 2012	Alexis Busch (USA) of Larkspur  Jordan Fromm (USA) of Kentfield  Alan Cahill (USA) of Tiburon  Elmer Morrissey (IRL)  Marc Kasanin (USA)		Low Speed Chase, Sydney 38	,[7][8]
Calif. to Ensenada, Mexico yacht race.		28 April 2012	Kevin Eric Rudolph (USA), 53, of Manhattan Beach, Calif.,  William Reed Johnson Jr. (USA), 57, of Torrance, Calif.,  Joseph Lester Stewart (USA), 64, Bradenton, Fla.		Aegean, Hunter 376	,[9][10]
Islands Race	Newport Harbor and San Diego Yacht Club	9 March 2013	Craig Thomas Williams (USA), 36, California		Uncontrollable Urge, Columbia 32 Carbon	,[11][12]

Accidents Yacht Racing

Race Name	Host Club	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description
Big Boat Series	St. Francis Yacht Club	18 September 1994	Larry Klein (USA), 42, San Diego	San Francisco	Twin Flyer, 38 foot sloop	[13]
America's Cup Testing	Golden Gate Yacht Club	9 May 2013	Andrew Simpson (GBR)	San Francisco	Artemis Racing, AC72, Boat 1	Entrapped after the boat broke apart and capsized.

Accidents Dinghy Sailing

Race Name	Date	Name	Place	Boat	Description

References

1. https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/news/article/andrew-ashman-fatal-injury-official-statement
2. https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/news/article/fatality-statement--sarah-young
3. "Sailor Struggles With `What-Ifs' of Boat Race / His friend died after being swept overboard". SFGate. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
4. http://archive.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=1357
5. "Experts mystified by loss of sailboat and 2 aboard". SFGate. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
6. "Sail World - The Worlds largest sailing news network: Sail and sailing, cruising, boating news". Sail-World.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
7. "Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
8. http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2012/USS_Farallones_Report.htm
9. http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/aegean-woman-confirms-husband-fatality_2012-04-30
10. "Panel: Newport-Ensenada yacht ran aground". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
11. Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press (9 March 2013). "1 dead, 5 rescued in Calif. sailboat race accident". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
12. "Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
13. "Routine Race Ends Tragically : Sailing: Perch collapses and ends life of Larry Klein, one of America's brightest hopes, during event in the Bay Area.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 December 2014.