The events on South Shore yesterday evoked memories of an earlier tragedy.

It was back in August, 1981, that racer Ken Dear lost his life in similar circumstances to those which claimed Stuart Smith.

Dear was practising for the third heat of the then La Trattoria series when he crashed at 100mph along Ferry Reach.

Eyes witnesses watched in horror as his black catamaran Pepsi flipped, hurling him head first to his death.

Fellow racer Scott Johnson dashed into the water to try and save the 37 year-old.

"I was standing about 40 feet away," he told the Royal Gazette at the time. "Conditions were not very good for high speed because it was very calm. He flipped once and was flung out. He was thrown clear but he landed head first.

"He was probably travelling at about 100 mph, but it was hard to tell.

"I pulled him out ... I checked his pulse. His body was lifeless ... I couldn't do any more. It didn't even make sense to give him mouth to mouth."

Dear was driven by car to meet an ambulance that had been called earlier. He was then taken to hospital but believed to have been dead on arrival.

In August, 1979 the Island's Power Boat Association was hit by the death of Geoff Smith one month after he crashed at 90 mph. That tragedy led to more stringent safety regulations to be introduced.