How did it happen? - Drowning of Trainee Sailor

by Straits Times/Sail-World Cruising on 7 Jul 2008 (See earlier report )UNDERGRADUATE Levin Angsana, whose body was later found by police after he fell off his boat into the choppy waters off Tuas in Singapore on Thursday afternoon, clung to the side of the craft at first. Urged by his crew members to climb back on, he replied that he could not muster the strength to do so and then lost his grip.

Like the other four crew members on board, he had not been wearing a life jacket.

Seeing him in difficulty, boat captain and national sailor Renfred Tay, 23, dived in, and a life jacket was thrown into the water.

Meanwhile, the 24-foot-long keel boat, which could not stop because it was still being pushed along in the wind, circled to return to the spot.

Mr Tay managed to grab hold of Mr Angsana and urged him to 'stay calm and keep on kicking'. 'Levin didn't look comfortable in the water. He said he didn't have the strength to pull himself up from the side.' The boat captain then left him, swimming off to get the life jacket. When he turned around to hand it over, Mr Angsana was gone.

Later, back on dry land, crew member Koh Ziyi, 23, who had been in training with Mr Angsana for an upcoming regatta, was still shaken.

The undergraduate in information systems said that the team had been heading back to the Raffles Marina at about 3.45pm when Mr Angsana started lowering the spinnaker. But a gust of wind blew it into the water and the boat glided over it. Mr Angsana immediately got into a prone position to retrieve it. That was when he fell overboard.

Mr Koh said that after Mr Tay had lost sight of Mr Angsana in the water, he told the crew to head back to the marina to get help. Another life jacket was thrown to him in case the missing sailor surfaced.

Mr Koh, who then assumed captaincy of the boat, said: 'I just wanted to get back to shore as soon as possible to get help.'

A Raffles Marina rescue boat was then sent out to the scene.

The four students with Mr Angsana were among 17 who had arrived at the marina at noon for their training session. They split up into three boats, with the other two boats carrying six students each, one man more than their optimal capacity. They set off from the marina and headed two nautical miles out in 15-knot winds to start their training.

As a bowman, Mr Angsana's job was to plant himself at the front of the boat to help hoist and lower the spinnaker and to look out for other boats.

He had obtained his Class 1 licence, the most basic sailing licence, last year. To get it, he needed to show that he could sail solo and swim 50m in open water while wearing a life jacket.

Mr Koh said that it was not uncommon for sailors to fall overboard. When this happened, they would usually pull themselves up from the side of the boat or clamber back via the stern, where there is a lower platform.

He finished, 'Everyone who was on board has been quiet since this happened. I don't want to talk to my friends about it yet.'