No chance to evade the barge

Following tragedy for the Miami Yacht Club youth sailing program, when a 60-foot barge crashed into a 17-foot sailboat, a former program participant and counselor – Katie Flood-Reiss, 29 – provides an interview for the Miami Herald. Here is an excerpt:

“This tragedy struck a chord because I was on those boats with those campers and we were so careful with our kids,” Flood-Reiss said. “We were super invested in and focused on our kids and their safety.

She doesn’t understand how the accident on a calm Monday morning could have happened. But eyewitness accounts and video footage of the collision show that the 19-year-old female counselor and five campers ranging in age from 7 to 13 aboard the Hobie Getaway had no chance to evade the barge that ran them over near Hibiscus Island. The barge was being pushed from behind by a tugboat.

“In those conditions with hardly any wind it would be impossible to turn that sailboat quickly,” she said. – Full report