Troy Kennedy and Barney Depledge were hanging out near the downwind mark in a Ran support boat when their day suddenly got very interesting. Scattered noise came across the Quantum Key West radio channel about a man overboard on the Division 1 course. At the time, boats from the Farr 40 class were bearing down on the mark and Kennedy, the boat driver, wasn’t sure what to do.
“We didn’t want to go charging out on the course and make a mess of the fleet,” he said.
However, Kennedy then saw crew members from Flash Gordon frantically pointing toward a spot in the water. Kennedy put the throttle down on the inflatable tender and raced to the location just in time for Depledge to spot a man in the water.
Barking Mad, a Farr 40 owned by Jim Richardson, had been preparing to drop the spinnaker and set the genoa when it was buffeted by choppy waves and started rocking violently back-and-forth. Bowman Keith Glynn was tossed overboard, hitting his head against a stanchion on the way over.
Woozy and weighed down by wet gear, Glynn struggled to keep his head above water in the steep waves. Fortunately, Kennedy and Depledge did not hesitate, initially throwing Glynn a life preserver but then taking more drastic action when the young Irishman could not grasp the rope.
“(Glynn) was really having a hard time and all of a sudden he went under,” Kennedy said. “Barney reacted immediately, jumping in the water and grabbing the lad just in the nick of time.”
Depledge got Glynn to the life preserver and together he and Kennedy pulled the Barking Mad bowman safely aboard the motorboat. The two Britons then raced the shaken sailor back to shore and he was transported to the Lower Keys Medical Center for observation. Fortunately, Glynn recovered quickly and was resting comfortably back at the team house by early evening.
“(Glynn) was exhausted and had swallowed a lot of water. If Barney hadn’t jumped in he may not have made it,” Kennedy said. “It was a pretty close call, but (Glynn) recovered on the way back to port and was in pretty good spirits.”
Barking Mad immediately withdrew from Race 2 and headed back to the docks in front of the Galleon. A visibly upset Richardson jumped off the boat and headed quickly to the medical center to check on the health of his crew member.
“It was a very unfortunate incident and we are just so grateful that the Ran guys were in the area and able to recover Keith so quickly,” Richardson said. “It was a great show of seamanship and we are very thankful to (Kennedy and Depledge) for their quick and decisive action.”
It turns out that was not the only drama on a day that winds gusted to 25 knots and whipped up the waves. A crew member aboard Kalevala II, a Grand Soleil 37 owned by Tapio Saavalainen of Annapolis, had the top half of his thumb sliced off in a trimming accident. That sailor was also rushed to the hospital where doctors worked to reattach the thumb.