Coast Guard probes why a life jacket failed

CHICAGO — The Chicago Yacht Club says an investigation shows a sailor in the Race to Mackinac drowned after his auto-inflate personal flotation device malfunctioned.

Jon Santarelli fell off Imedi, a TP52 sailboat, shortly after the start of the race on July 21. His body was found a week later.

The Coast Guard told the club it could not perform a full analysis of the PFD because the vest portion was destroyed when Santarelli was cremated.

The Coast Guard did analyze the CO2 cartridge and said it did not appear to have triggered to inflate Santarelli’s PFD.

After investigating Santarelli’s death, the CYC has opened an inquiry into the safety of auto-inflate PFD’s and their future use in offshore races, and is urging sailors to comply with all maintenance and use instructions.

In Other News

Major leadership shakeup, new budget battles coming to VA in 2025

The major Veterans Affairs stories we're keeping an eye on in 2025.

Rollback of DOD anti-extremism efforts coming in 2025, experts predict

The piecemeal progress of extremism-prevention efforts during the past four years is more than can be expected out of the Pentagon in 2025, experts said.

From Grinch greetings to Santa sightings, the holidays come to troops

Holiday helpers have been busy, as plenty of organizations and individuals have been working to make the days a bit brighter for troops and their families.

Will most troops move under new household goods program in 2025?

More than half of installations in the continental United States are moving troops' shipments under the new system.

VA to resume new electronic health record rollout in mid-2026

The project was scheduled to take 10 years and cost $16 billion. Nearly eight years later, only six of VA’s 170-plus medical sites are using the software.

Load More