NEWINGTON — Marine patrol officers helped prevent a sailboat from capsizing in the Great Bay Sunday. At 6:39 p.m., Marine patrol officers received a call from a passerby reporting a sailboat in distress, stuck against a bridge abutment and in the process of overturning near the General Sullivan Bridge.
Upon arrival at the bridge, officers reported seeing a 26-foot sailboat with two adults in it, who were attempting to prevent the vessel from capsizing. The boat was stuck on the bridge abutment and only the bottom of the sailboat’s hull was visible.
The officers secured a tow line to the sailboat and were able to right it and secure it at a mooring in Great Bay. While talking to the boat’s occupants (whose identities were not released), they determined that though the sailboat was under sail, the operator was also using a motor, which lost power roughly 100 yards from the bridge. The current pinned the boat to the abutment. No injuries to officers or the boat occupants were reported and the sailboat was not damaged.


