Posted on Thursday 24th June 2004
Last weekend there was a 2k regatta in Tilburg, in the south of the Netherlands, on a 4-lane course that is the wider part of a canal. All navigation is held back during the regatta, except for a break on mid-day when ships are allowed through. When that happens, all 5 steel cables spanning the canal (start and every 500m) are lowered onto the bottom of the canal.
Two incidents this weekend: on Saturday there was an unauthorized crossing of the regatta course by a motor cruiser that was apparently not held back by marshalls at the side-canal near the finish. In its haste to get out of the way of an approaching race it didn't notice the finishing cable and pulled it along for a few meters until it sprang loose from the ship's mast. The cable was still intact and bounced down into the water twice, miraculously just in front of and behind a passing crew. Another report says it did hit the bowman, but without any consequence.
Then on Sunday, during the mid-day break, another motor cruiser managed to pick up one of the lowered (submerged) cables and dragged it along until it snapped. One of the ends swooped back onto the bank and hit a 22-yr old girl, a rowing coach from the student club situated on the course, throwing her back off her feet for a few meters, severely wounding her arm and cutting off her thumb. She was moved to the local hospital by ambulance, later transferred to a specialist's team in Rotterdam. Policemen found her thumb and brought it to the hospital. One reaction on the NLroei page now says the surgical team did not succeed to re-attach it. After a few hours delay the regatta was resumed on a shortened 1500 m course. Police are investigating the incident.
Normally the canal is deep enough to allow safe passage of even heavy-laden commercial ships (the inland navigation kind). Also, the cable-lowering is not new. One online reaction suggests there might have been an obstacle on the bottom, like a dumped car wreck, that kept the cable higher. Another possible explanation is of course that the cable was just not lowered enough by the regatta crew. What ever they may find, it is a real tragedy for the young lady.
Story based on NLRoei coverage and written by Ewoud Dronkert.