Reward given after rescue

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 21

Reward given after rescue

NZPA-Reuter Pusan The Canadian Lawrence Lemieux was yesterday awarded second place in the fifth Olympic Finn race after rescuing a fellow yachtsman who fell overboard in rough seas. Lemieux saw a Singaporean crewman flailing about after his boat capsized during Saturday’s race a,nd plucked him out of the water, sacrificing second place. He finished twenty-first. “It was just one of those things. He was obviously desperate. He had hurt his back and was shouting out,” Lemieux said. “He was about 25 metres from the boat and didn’t have much hope of getting back to it. He was exhausted.” Lemieux was rewarded by a race jury decision issued yesterday which gave him second place, his position before the incident. “It’s the very first rule of sailing to help people in distress and the jury is very appreciative,” Lemieux said. Lemieux dragged the sailor, Joseph Chan, on to his boat, took off his weight jacket and tried to find a rescue boat. Officials had originally named the yachtsman as Siew Shaw Her, Chan’s skipper in the 470 class. Lemieux is eighth in the Finn class with two races left and has only an outside chance of a medal.