US SAILING TO PRESENT ARTHUR B. HANSON RESCUE MEDAL TO LAKE BEULAH (WI) GROUP FOR ASSISTING SAILOR

29 August, 2002 (Portsmouth, RI)—On August 31, 2002, US SAILING will honor Lake Beulah Yacht Club (near East Troy, WI) rescuers Terriann Norris, Neal Norris and Patti Webb of the Gun Boat, Jim Kutchenreuter and David Porter of the Judges Boat, and Rick Kent, Robert Hudson, John Porter, and Gan Haeger on the three Spectator Boats. US SAILING Board Member Terry Bischoff will present the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal for extraordinary efforts to assist a sailor, responding quickly and selflessly when needed, and working effectively as a team to achieve their goal of a life saving rescue, according to Ron Trossbach, Chairman of the US SAILING Safety at Sea Committee.

On May 26, 2001, during the first championship series race on Lake Beulah in rainy cool conditions, five race support vessels recognized major trouble simultaneously. MC scow skipper Doug Dorn, who was sailing solo, was slumped backwards in his hiking strap with the boat dragging him; his head was underwater.

The Gun Boat arrived first, driven by Terriann Norris, maneuvered into position and Gun Boat crew Neal Norris and Patti Webb lifted Dorn's head and shoulders out of the water, but he was still in the hiking strap. The Judges Boat arrived and Rob Hudson dove into the water to remove Dorn's feet from the hiking straps. Dorn was then pulled onto the Gun Boat. At this point it was clear, Doug Dorn had suffered a heart attack.

Volunteers started CPR immediately, with David Porter (from the Judges Boat) and Rob Hudson, alternating on the compressions with Gan Haeger (Spectator Boat) counting. Staggeringly, Doug Dorn's father suffered a heart attack and passed away 17 years earlier while sailing on Lake Beulah—an annual regatta honoring Doug's father is held on Lake Beulah. Rick Kent attempted calling 911 on his cell phone, but being from out of town, the call was answered in his hometown out of state. John Porter’s cell phone did the same thing, but this time the Madison, WI 911 center (45 miles away) transferred the call to the professional rescue operation servicing Lake Beulah.

Terriann drove the gunboat to the Lake Beulah Yacht Club where the East Troy rescue squad met it. The rescue squad utilized an AED (automatic external defibrillator) and worked on Doug first on the gunboat, then on shore. He was taken to Lakeland Hospital and then Flight for Life airlifted to St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI, a regional center for cardiac care. Doug spent approximately 4 weeks in the hospital during which he had surgery for multiple heart bypasses.

Three months later, Doug Dorn won the first race he sailed in after this episode.

The US SAILING Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal is given to skippers of pleasure boats or race support vessels who effect rescues of victims from the water. The award is made for rescues in U.S. waters, or in races that originate or terminate in a U.S. port. The Rescue Medal has been in existence for thirteen years and is administered by US SAILING’s Safety-at-Sea Committee (SASC). More information about the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal can be found at http://www.ussailing.org/safety/Rescues/hansonstories.htm.

The Rescue Medal recognizes acts of exemplary seamanship, and the award process is also used by the SASC as a way to gain more education about rescues at sea. The data and stories of award nominees are studied carefully for the common practices that contribute to, or deter from, the success of a rescue operation.

Born December 8, 1916, Arthur B. “Tim” Hanson started sailing as a child at his family's home on the Chesapeake Bay. He continued the sport during his years at Cornell University and the College of William and Mary. In 1963, Hanson purchased Figaro III, a 47.5 foot Sparkman and Stephens yawl, and renamed it Foolscap. He sailed every Newport-Bermuda Race from 1964 – 1982, four transatlantic races including, Bermuda to Travemunde, Germany; Bermuda to Vigo, Spain; Newport to Cork, Ireland; and Bermuda to Khristiansand, Norway. He also raced many Annapolis - Newport and Marblehead-Halifax races and Block Island Race Weeks. In the early 1970s, Hanson tested the first Electronic Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) on a private yacht during a transatlantic race.

The United States Sailing Association is the national governing body for the sport of sailing, the mission of which is to encourage participation and excellence in sailing and racing in the United States. The organization achieves its goals through member organizations and volunteers, located throughout the United States, who are supported by an administrative staff located at the organization’s headquarters in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. For more information about US SAILING, visit the website at www.ussailing.org or call (401) 683-0800.