An “inadequate lookout” likely contributed to a crash that resulted in the death of a South Bay boat captain and his crew during a race from Newport Beach to Ensenada, an independent sailing panel has found.
The US Sailing Independent Review Panel also concluded that the Aegean’s skipper set coordinates that put it on a path into North Coronado Island and was motoring under autopilot as the craft approached the land mass.
“There was no evidence of any intervention to prevent Aegean’s running into the island,” the report said.
The crash occurred as Theofanis Mavromatis, 49, and three crew members took part in the 2012 Newport-to-Ensenada Yacht Race aboard Mavromatis’ 37-foot Hunter 376. The race involving 213 boats in 18 classes began April 27. Ten boats competed in the Aegean’s class.
The next day, sailors aboard Rolling in the Deep, a Hobie 33 sloop, found a debris field about eight miles from the Mexican coast. Killed in the crash were crewmen Kevin Rudolph, 53; William Reed Johnson Jr., 57, of Torrance; and Joseph Stewart, 64, of Bradenton, Fla.
At first, boaters speculated the Aegean possibly crashed into a ship.
The U.S. Coast Guard continues to investigate the crash and has not issued an official report. US Sailing, the sport’s national organizing body and the authority for sanctioning sailboat races in the United States, issued a report in June saying its investigators believed the boat ran aground on North Coronado Island.
Mavromatis’ family disputes the report as premature.
With no survivors, the organization convened the panel of five men and four advisers to examine GPS tracking, text transmissions during the race, published material, press reports, wreckage, and interviews with race organizers, participants and past crew members of the Aegean, to come to a conclusion about how the crash occurred.
Mavromatis’ daughter, Anna Mavromati, said her family also disputes the latest finding, and is waiting for the official report from the Coast Guard.
“They don’t have any evidence that we know of to back the claims they are making,” Mavromati said. “We don’t think they are professionals. They are just volunteers and they are not working with the Coast Guard. I don’t know if what they are saying is valid.”
Jake Fish, a spokesman for US Sailing, said the panel was formed to reduce the chance of similar accidents in the future.
“Our focus isn’t to put blame, it’s instead to learn and help others make adjustments in their safety procedures,” Fish said.
Bruce Brown, who chaired the panel, said in a statement that he offered condolences to the victims’ families.
Mavromati said the panel members were rude to her family.
“They snapped at us,” she said. “They wouldn’t answer all of our questions.”
Two weeks ago, Rudolph’s widow filed court paperwork that begins the process of a possible wrongful death lawsuit against Mavromatis’ estate.
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