US Sailing’s Safety-at-Sea Committee recently gave out a number of its Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medals in recognition of the seamanship displayed during two separate rescues performed on Lake Huron and Hawaii’s Kaneohe Bay.

The Kaneohe Bay rescue took place January 25, 2009, when Joe Cochran, skipper of the Cal 20 Ol’ Blue, fell overboard during a race in 15-25 knots of wind. Cochran is in the early stages of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and was not wearing a life jacket, so crewmember Jim Silcox jumped in to hold his head above water while crewmember Robert McDonald took the helm.

As this was happening, two other Cal 20s and an International 14 dinghy dropped out of the race to assist with the rescue. The International 14 capsized in the process, but not before skipper Shelley James was able to alert a Kaneohe Bay Yacht Club powerboat, which picked up two sailors from the attending Cal 20s to help pull Cochran and Silcox on board. Honolulu Fire Department medics met the boat ashore, administered oxygen and took Cochran to a local hospital, where he remained for three days.

The first of the Hanson medals went to Ol’ Blue and her crew, Silcox and McDonald. Another was awarded to the powerboat and her crew, Ken Schmidt and Georgia Schmidt, and the two sailors who joined them from the Cal 20s, Fuzz Foster and Robin Durnin. Another Hanson Medal went to Shelley James, skipper of the International 14.

The Lake Huron rescue took place on August 1, when the J/35 Time Machine, owned by Robert Gordenker, rescued two people on the way back from finishing the Port Huron-Mackinac Race. Time Machine was approximately five miles offshore when Gordenker spotted a paddle waving above the water. Clinging to a capsized small sailboat were two people who Gordenker and his crew, Dee Adkins and Dennis Maurer, hauled on deck by hand. For a complete account of the rescue, click here.

The Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal is awarded to “any person who rescues or endeavors to rescue any other person from drowning, shipwreck or other perils at sea within the territorial waters of the United States, or as part of a sailboat race or voyage that originated or stopped in the U.S.” The medal was established in 1990 by friends of the late Mr. Hanson, an ocean-racing sailor from the Chesapeake Bay, with the purpose of recognizing significant accomplishments in seamanship and collecting case studies of rescues for analysis by the Safety-at-Sea Committee of US Sailing.

For more on the medal visit US Sailing.