Sailor Saves Fellow Crew In Race To Mackinac: 'They Weren't Panicky'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Hyde Park man and the crew of his sailboat rescued the crew of a boat that sank last month in the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, and now he's telling his story.
It was about 4 p.m. on July 24 when the distress call came in from the WhoDo. Their rudder broke and the yacht was sinking.
Mark Bremer, the captain of the City Girl, was only about half a mile away when he responded the call.
"They weren't panicky. We were able to get them up out of the water without any problem, and nobody was hurt," he said.
Bremer said the WhoDo had a crew of 10.
"Yeah, we got all ten of them on our boat, which is … City Girl is one of the smaller boats in the race at 30-feet long, so we had our crew of six plus their crew of 10 on that small boat. It was kind of funny," he said.
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The City Girl left the Mackinac race after the rescue.
"I think we were doing pretty well. I think we were top-ten, probably, in our section, which is good. So we had a chance to do well, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did. It was really memorable," Bremer said.
Bremer was disappointed not to finish the race, "but at the same time, I think that's one of the things I really like about racing, that people are really willing to do that, and that's really part of it; helping out other folks."
He talked to the WhoDo crew after the rescue.
"Several of the folks were from the U.K. on that boat, and it was interesting just to hear their stories," he said.
Bremer said he found out that, after the WhoDo was re-floated, the UK crewmen got their passports back, but one man's passport was missing.
"He went kayaking and walking on the beach the next day, and apparently he found his bag with the passport in it, which is kind of amazing," he said.
