| The 49er Class is saddened by the passing of Eya Guezguez (TUN) during a training incident last week. Eya represented Tunisia at the Tokyo Olympics and will be missed by her family and community, but most of all by her sister who she was sailing with at the time of her passing. While the 49er class does not have any direct knowledge of the incident, news reports indicate Eya was trapped beneath the boat during a capsize, and drowned before she could be brought to the surface. Conditions were tough, though she did have a coach in support on the day. There was also another death in the 49er family last November, during the Indian nationals. In that instance, Naveen Vashist (IND), was sailing in after racing and hit his head during a capsize. Again, the 49er class has no direct knowledge of the specifics, but it sounds like Naveen was knocked out by the impact of the capsize, and then was face down in the water while the boat was upside down. He was recovered but succumbed to his injuries in hospital a few days later. While 49er sailing is very dynamic and on the surface, these two instances are not related, we remind all sailors to try and stay clear of the boat in upset conditions, knowing that is not an easy task. Mostly we just wanted to make sure sailors are aware of the tragedy that has befallen our two friends and trust we will all keep as safe as possible on water. |
