A MAN drowned during a boat race after his life jacket failed to inflate properly when he fell overboard, an inquest has heard.
Kenneth Jones (46) of Oaklands Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin fell into the sea during a race from Wicklow to Poolbeg on September 14th, 2008.
Mr Jones was aboard the sailing boat Alana with his sister and brother-in-law, Cynthia and Paraig Killeen.
The inquest at Dublin County Coroner’s Court heard that the couple made a mayday call and threw Mr Jones a line, which the struggling man failed to reach.
“I could see Ken . . . Paraig was shouting at him to stay where he was and don’t try to swim. Ken was saying; ‘Hurry Paraig, Hurry Paraig’!” Ms Killeen said.
Mr Killeen then jumped in to rescue Mr Jones, who was an inexperienced sailor, but told the court that his brother-in-law was dead by the time he reached him.
Mr Killeen himself then began to struggle and had to let go of Mr Jones. Mr Killeen was pulled from the water by the three-man crew of the Naomh Cronin, one of whom, Paddy Murphy, also jumped in to help Mr Jones. There were no signs of life.
Three witnesses, Mr Killeen, as well as Naomh Cronin crew Paul Keogh and Thomas Quirke, told the inquest that Mr Jones’s life jacket appeared to have not inflated properly.
Mr Jones’s head was initially above water, but by the time they got to him his face was under the surface. His head would have been lifted face upwards if the life jacket was fully inflated, Mr Quirke said.
The new life jacket worked properly when it was tested at the beginning of the season, the court heard. It is designed to inflate when the wearer hits the water.
A postmortem found Mr Jones died of drowning.
Mr Jones also had a slight bruise in keeping with a blow from the boom, with very slight bleeding, but it would not have knocked him unconscious, the inquest heard.
Mr Jones had significant coronary artery disease, but pathologist Dr Fasia Tahir did not believe it was a factor in his death.
The inquest did not establish exactly what caused Mr Jones, who had complained of a headache earlier in the day, to fall overboard.
He had been leaning against the boom to keep it from moving when he fell into the water.
“I saw the boom coming towards him – next he was in midair and then he was in the water,” Mr Killeen said, and added he did not believe his brother-in-law was struck by the boom.
Mrs Killeen believed her brother was alive when her husband got to him. He was a competent swimmer, but was not able to swim that day as he only had “power” in one of his arms, she said. He was in the water for approximately 15 minutes.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty directed the jury to return a verdict of accidental death.
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board is carrying out an inquiry, the court heard. The coroner said he would write to the board and notify them of his concern that eight months after the incident nothing has been done and that there may be other life jackets in a similar condition.
No board representative was present yesterday.