Watch the Boom!

It’s happened again—another sailing accident that should serve as a reminder to us all to be more careful out there on the water.

New England’s been deluged by an early-summer nor’easter that’s brought many days of rain, fog, gloom, and gusty winds. The weather makes many of us antsy, waiting for good days to sail, and sometimes when we decide to break out the foul weather gear and do it anyway, we’re still feeling a little frantic. Maybe that’s what was happening on the J24 racing a couple days ago off Salem, Mass. Not one but two men on the same boat were struck in the head by the boom, one after the other. Both were experienced sailors. Both suffered head injuries and had to be treated at the hospital.

Keeping an eye on the boom when tacking and gybing—and whenever shifting or gusting winds raise the risk of an accidental gybe—is one of the first things sailors learn. Still, it happens. You get caught up in the race or preoccupied with other thoughts, and the unthinkable happens and your head is struck by a flying heavy piece of metal whose force can be considerable—and often lethal. Fortunately both these men recovered from their injuries.

But we’re not all so lucky all the time. Keep an eye out, folks!