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Windsurfer fell,
then shark attacked

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By Gary Kubota
Maui correspondent

WAILUKU, Hawaii -- Jean Goenvec said he was trying to right his windsurf board after falling on a turn in waters nearly three-quarters of a mile off a beach near the Kahului Airport when he saw a shark swimming toward him.

"I immediately climbed on my board but I felt my leg caught under the knee," said Goenvec, 53, of France.

"I saw the upper right front of the shark's head and a part of his back. It was shaking its head. Then it let my leg go."

Goenvec, who required surgery on his left leg after the shark attack last Tuesday, was listed between guarded and satisfactory condition this morning at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

Goenvec has declined a request for an interview but provided a written account of his encounter with the shark, which took place about 10 minutes before noon off Kanaha Beach Park.

He said his wife had been windsurfing with him, but she had left earlier to rig a smaller sail.

He described the shark as blue or black and estimated it was 12-to-15-feet long.

The injury was apparent after the attack.

"My leg was bleeding very much and I could see a jerky flow of blood showing a cut artery," Goenvec said.

He said he sat on his board and tried to stop the bleeding himself by tying a tourniquet around his left leg with the footmast rope. "This was not easy on account of the waves and I lost more blood than I expected."

Goenvec said once the bleeding was under control, he waited for help from other windsurfers.

He said he saw some windsurfers cruising 300 to 600 feet away, "... but they did not see my emergency signs, nor hear my calls."

Meanwhile, the wind was pushing him out to sea and out of the normal route frequented by windsurfers.

Goenvec said about a half-hour after the attack, he saw a windsurfer coming toward him to help him. He said his rescue was quick and efficient and he expressed his appreciation to those who helped, including windsurfer John Sincerbeaux and water safety officer Joseph Perez.

Perez said Goenvec was about three-quarters mile to a mile offshore when he was pulled from the water and brought to shore aboard a jet ski.

"I give a big thank you to these persons," Goenvec said.