Teen dies after mast on boat breaks off

A woman, 41, is critically hurt in an accident off Waikiki

A catamaran ride in rough seas off Waikiki ended in tragedy yesterday with a teenage boy fatally injured and a woman hospitalized in critical condition.

The mast of the 45-foot Na Hoku II cracked and fell on deck, pinning the boy and injuring the 41-year-old woman, according to investigators. Police said the two are from California, according to police.

Boat crew members told the Coast Guard that 22 people were on board when the accident happened just after 4 p.m. about three-quarters of a mile off Diamond Head.

Two Honolulu Fire Department rescue crewmen were lowered to the boat from the department helicopter. They used inflatable air bags to raise the heavy mast off the victim, said Fire Capt. Frank Johnson.

The boy and the woman were airlifted by helicopter to Kapiolani Park, where ambulance crews awaited.

The boy, whose age was either 13 or 14, according to emergency personnel, was pronounced dead at the Queen's Medical Center.

The woman was hospitalized there in critical condition, according to Bryan Cheplic, city Emergency Medical Services spokesman.

A female crew member was also injured but stayed aboard to bring the vessel into Ala Wai Boat Harbor. She was treated at Straub Hospital.

Their names were not available last night.

Police detectives, Coast Guard and Department of Land and Natural Resources investigators were at the harbor last night questioning the crew and boat owner John Savio.

The Coast Guard launched a 47-foot patrol boat and a helicopter after the catamaran crew sent a distress call. The de-masted vessel was towed by the Coast Guard boat for a while, said Coast Guard Lt. John Titchen. Once the crew member restarted its outboard engine, she was able to bring the boat into harbor under its own power, he said.

Hans Kolbisen, whose yacht is berthed at Ala Wai, said he was racing his boat and encountered strong wind gusts off Waikiki at about the time of the accident. He watched the rescue efforts from his boat.

"The offshore conditions were rough," noted Cheplic.

A Ocean Safety Division crew was patrolling in a truck to monitor surf conditions along the coast and spotted the boat in distress outside the Diamond Head buoy, he said.

A lifeguard went out to the boat aboard a Jet Ski launched from the Natatorium. He returned to shore and ferried Fire Department crew members out to the boat, Cheplic said.

The commercial catamaran, a fixture on the Waikiki tourism scene, sailed, departing near the Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel, according to the company's Web site. The site notes that the catamaran's predecessor, Na Hoku, is featured in the photo of Waikiki Beach that is included on the recently released game "Monopoly, Here and Now."

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