http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/359134.stm


More than 150 people have been rescued during a regatta in Weymouth
Bay, Dorset, after 77 yachts capsized during a squall.


The BBC's Liz MacKean: "It was a dramatic end to the national
championships"
The sailors were knocked off their 18ft Dart catamarans by a
south-easterly wind of up to force 6.

But rescuers were quick to react and a mass launch of coastguard
helicopters and lifeboats went into action at about 1600 BST.

After three hours all 156 competitors had been accounted for.



Portland harbour masters rescue a capsized catamaran
A 37-year-old woman was airlifted to the Dorset County Hospital in
Dorchester suffering from hypothermia. Other reports suggest that as
many as 30 people needed treatment for the effects of the cold, and
Weymouth and District Hospital was still on major incident alert.

The local Weymouth lifeboat acted as co-ordinator, and used private
boats as a ferry service for the rescued people.

One of the survivors, yachtsman Mark Wray, said: "It was frightening
out there. The boats were flipping over. Everyone was concentrating on
getting ashore."

Unexpected weather

Coastguards and competitors alike have dismissed suggestions that the
race organisers might have been irresponsible.



No protection against the elements
"We are not meteorologists and you have to take into account that
forecasting squalls is somewhat difficult," said Mark Clark, a
spokesman for the Maritime Coastguard Agency.

"It is a professionally organised event, and they would have taken
account of the weather forecast before they put out."

Bob Fletcher, a former Olympic class sailor, also said the organisers
were not to blame.

"It certainly wasn't irresponsible because the standard of the field
that went out there are well capable of coping with almost anything.

"Everybody wears life-jackets and dry-suits but the rescue services
got concerned about the number of people in the water at the same
time."

But a local meteorological spokesman said that heavy winds had been
forecast before the race.

'We were caught out'

The chairman of the United Kingdom International Dart Association,
Richard Brown, himself capsized six times during the race along with
his 17-year-old son Oliver.

"We were caught out," he said. "We knew heavy weather was coming but
not until later. It just blew up."

He added: "The race organisers realised the number of boats that were
capsizing and alerted the coastguard and emergency services.

He insisted that all the competitors had been properly equipped with
buoyancy aids and dry suits.

He also said that rescue boats and larger yachts used by the
organisers had been on hand at various points along the triangular
course.

"We sail to the normal standards set by the Royal Yachting
Association," he said.

The catamarans involved were fairly small high-performance sailing
vessels, which would have been severely buffeted by the unexpected
squall.

The trampoline-like netting platform, which joins the hulls and
supports the crew, offers no protection against the sea or elements.

*********************************

Like I said, Cats are unstable and dangerious, should be used under
USCG supervision only.

Capt. American