ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Authorities in Maryland say everyone is accounted for after 16 sailboats overturned during part of a sailing event in the Severn River off Annapolis.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police say 22 people ranging in age from 16 to 70 were pulled from the water and that everyone was unharmed and accounted for.
Officials said the incident happened around 2:30 p.m. Sunday when the boats encountered strong gusts of wind and the water turned rough.
Officials said the boats that overturned — one-person Laser sailboats — were part of a Severn Sailing Association event, and that many of those who were thrown overboard were wearing wetsuits. The natural resources police said the water temperature was 43 degrees.
Stuart White, of Arnold, Maryland, said that when he got to the Eastport Yacht Club, the air temperature was 62 degrees. The skies darkened, the winds picked up and White saw the boats go over. “All i saw were these little black spots, which were really the heads and bodies of the sailors.”
Three other people were rescued from the Potomac River when strong winds tipped over sailboats near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
WTOP’s Dick Uliano contributed to this report.
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