Great news that the Cruising Club of America (CCA) has selected Captain Thomas B. Crawford (Lopez Island, Wash.) to receive its 2012 Rod Stephens Trophy for Outstanding Seamanship for the rescue of Derk Wolmuth and his 31-foot Vindo sailboat, BELA BARTOK, during the 2012 Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race. The trophy is given “for an act of seamanship which significantly contributes to the safety of a yacht or one or more individuals at sea.” The trophy will be awarded by Commodore Daniel P. Dyer, III at the Annual Awards Dinner on March 1, 2013 at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan.
In the early hours of July 15, 2012, Crawford was aboard his ship, Matson Navigation’s 860-foot RoCon MV MOKIHANA, en route to Oakland, Calif. He received a call from the Coast Guard asking for help in the rescue of Derk Wolmuth, who was two weeks into the Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race from San Francisco, Calif. to Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii. Wolmuth was fighting an infection onboard, but with no antibiotics he was close to death. An avid sailor himself, Crawford connected with Wolmuth over the radio. His primary goal was to save Wolmuth, but he hoped to save the boat as well, since it served as Wolmuth’s only home.
Prior to bringing the sick sailor aboard, Crawford instructed Wolmuth to adjust his Monitor wind vane and trim the jib. After Wolmuth was aboard MOKIHANA and on his way to the ship’s infirmary, Crawford maneuvered – using gantline hauling, engine commands and the helm and bow thruster – to get BELA BARTOK on course to Hawaii, which was 450 miles away.
On July 19th BELA BARTOK was rescued 15 miles north of Maui by Wolmuth’s fellow race competitors Ronnie Simpson and Ruben Gabriel, who had been monitoring the boat’s progress with the Yellow Brick Tracker that was aboard.
According to Crawford both of his goals were accomplished. “Derk is alive and mending, and his home (BELA BARETOK) is safe in Oahu. Many people working together made for an amazing outcome…not exactly a Mars landing, but it wasn’t that far removed for a bunch of people unknown to each other and with no planning or rehearsal.”
Well Done, Capt. Crawford and crew of MOKIHANA.