$2 Million Award in Sailboat Death

A Ventura County Superior Court jury has awarded nearly $2 million to the family of a Valencia man who was electrocuted six years ago when the mast of his Hobie Cat sailboat hit a power line near a Ventura beach.

In a judgment rendered Tuesday, a 12-member jury ruled that the 1979 death of Edward Fox involved negligence on the part of Southern California Edison Co. and the makers of the sailboat.

The bulk of the judgment involved $1.4 million in punitive damages levied against Oceanside-based Coast Catamaran Co. and its parent company, Coleman Co. Inc. of Wichita, Kan., makers of the Hobie Cat sailboat.

At issue was the boat’s aluminum mast, which conducts electricity. In July, 1979, Fox and several other men were carrying the boat across Silver Strand Beach in Ventura when the tip of the mast struck a 60,000-volt power line owned by Southern California Edison.

Fox and another man were killed in the accident, which occurred after Fox was ordered to remove his sailboat from the swimming area of the public beach. Fox’s heirs, who now live in New Hampshire, charged the utility and the boat makers with negligence in a civil suit filed in 1980.

Arnold Schwartz, a lawyer representing Fox’s heirs, said he argued at the trial that the utility and the boat makers could have prevented the accident by adjusting the power line or altering the boat to prevent it from conducting electricity.

Morton Kaplan, a lawyer for the boat makers, said it was the largest judgment ever levied against Coast Catamaran and Coleman.

Kaplan said there were several similar lawsuits pending against the firms but was not sure exactly how many. He said the companies planned to appeal Tuesday’s decision.

Bob Krauch, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said the utility had not decided whether to appeal.

Payment to Family

The jury ordered the three companies involved to pay $515,625 in general damages to Fox’s family, including his wife, Carmel, and his children, Renee and Gregory.

A spokeswoman for Ventura County Superior Court said Edison was ordered to pay $128,906.25 and Coast Catamaran and Coleman the rest.

Schwartz described the judgment against the boat makers as a victory for consumers and a possible spur for further suits against the companies.

Schwartz said the jury ruled that Fox was partly to blame for the accident, since he could have avoided the power line. Accordingly, the jury reduced an initial award of $825,000 in general damages to $515,625.

Schwartz said a similar civil suit had been filed by the heirs of the other man killed, Rodney Walters. That suit is scheduled to go to trial in October, he said.