CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A report is out recommending new safety precautions for the next Chicago-to-Mackinac Race, and boating, in general.
The Chicago Yacht Club released Monday a 60-page public report after looking into the death of experienced sailor Jon Santarelli during the July 2018 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. The report analyzes what took place during the incident and includes important lessons learned, specifically highlighting auto-inflate personal flotation devices.
Santarelli had fallen overboard July 21. Santarelli’s auto-inflate life jacket did not activate. His body was not discovered for a week.
Now, Yacht Club Vice-Commodore Nick Berberian said it’s recommended sailors do routine maintenance to make sure their auto-inflatable life jackets inflate when they need them to.
“Unless they are properly monitored and maintained and updated, that auto feature has a possibility, and a significant possibility of not performing," he said.
He said the triggering mechanism needs to be replaced at times, depending upon the manufacturer.
“We learned that there is a significant failure rate among these devices. It is primarily caused by, what we discovered, is maintenance," Berberian said.
He said the devices are rather intricate.
“They’re designed to be very comfortable and they’re designed to go off only when one goes into the water, especially the hydrostatic type, as opposed to when they get wet,” Berberian said.
Another safety recommendation to sailors from the club’s new report involves communicating with a sailor who has found him or herself in the water.
“What’s been recommended by the Coast Guard in those circumstances is that you establish verbal or hand signal contact. If that person goes in the water and you yell at them and you wave your arms at them and they don’t wave back or they don’t say anything back, that is a sign that they are in deep distress," he said.
In putting together the report, the Chicago Yacht Club committee interviewed the crew of Imedi, the boat Santarelli was on. The club was also able to use electronic tracking to piece together what happened, “with the goal of trying to enhance safety for the future," according to Berberian.