Idea for C-Cup

There's no additional news yet on the recent tragedy, and our previous post has pretty much been speculated to death, so here's an idea: Make Commodore's Cup a special event in honor of Yu Chen and as a kind of memorial to the recent tragedy.

The club could (and probably should) print up t-shirts with Yu's portrait, or at least his name. Maybe a nice shot of a windsurfer with text below or something like that, plus something that says C-Cup '17. Yes there was the memorial gathering, but that doesn't mean we can't do this too. It would reach a bigger audience and could also serve to bring awareness of the dangers inherent in sailing and other sports. If we could get news coverage, the event might also help to encourage a proper investigation into the tragedy (that should be happening already).

If you go to images.google.com and type "windsurfer art", you get some nice images that could easily be adapted for Hoofers. Photoshopping a good photo taken on Lake Mendota would also be an option, e.g. using one of the artistic filters. We're not art students but there are people in the club who are.

This would work best if club leaders like the idea and decide to go with it, but it doesn't necessarily require their participation. The idea was suggested by a commenter on our previous post.

Time's a wasting.

Another Hoofer death

JUNE 21 UPDATE: Here's another article on the incident. It begins, "The tragic death of a skilled windsurfer last month in a collision with a rescue boat on Lake Mendota turned a spotlight on the University of Wisconsin Lifesaving Station. The rescues performed by the station’s lifesaving crews, on the other hand, typically go unnoticed." Is the Cap Times suggesting that death by motorboat doesn't warrant so much attention or that it's a fair trade-off given all the "rescues" they perform..? In either case, we emphasize that there are one or two scenarios where it may not have been entirely the rescue boat's fault.

JUNE 14 UPDATE: More info here. The DNR and UW are refusing to release investigatory data and video and have refused to allow examination of the boat. Incredibly, the boat has apparently been put back into service already, presumably so active use will wash off whatever evidence remains. Almost sounds like corrupt public officials trying to protect themselves from liability.

JUNE 13 UPDATE: More details are trickling in about Yu Chen's death. Apparently he was run over by the "rescue" boat from behind, which seems to suggest that the motorboat crew were indeed at fault in this tragedy. Chen's family has retained an attorney to sue the crap out of the UW. WARNING—the above link gives some fairly graphic details.

JUNE 5—We hoped to have more details on the investigation by now, but here are the basics.

Last Wednesday, Yu Chen, a popular Hoofer sailor and former instructor, and a good friend, was killed by the Hoofer/UW lifesaving boat. That would be the 31 foot twin-screw "rescue" boat which weighs in at about 8,700 lbs. Yu together with his board probably weighed about 180.

The clowns at the Badger Herald worded it as follows: "a 43 year old man was killed after colliding with" the UW lifesaving boat. That makes it sound like Yu ran into the motorboat! What it should say is: "after being hit by the UW lifesaving boat". Harvey knows very well that sailboards have right-of-way over motorboats. (And now the Herald staff know too.)

The accident occurred around 5:45 PM. How is that possible? Evidently something was impairing the rescue staff's ability to navigate. Sunset is 8:32 PM now, so the sun couldn't have been in their eyes. Maybe Yu was in the water at the time and thus not as visible, but that's no excuse either. There simply is no excuse.

"UW lifesaving" has become "UW Lifetaking".

UPDATED JUNE 8.