Atlantic in 1989, died accidentally while "ducking breeze'' during a pack race one year later.

The death of Andre Carrington Whitter was ruled accidental by Coroner the Wor.

John Judge at an inquest held yesterday.

The 18-year-old was killed instantly when his motorcycle collided with a car driven by well-known cricketer Anthony (Pacer) Edwards on North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish in the early morning hours of August 26, 1990.

According to statements from witnesses, Whitter was participating in a high-speed pack race at the time of the accident -- which occurred one year to the day after he and two others set out on their ill-fated fishing trip.

"It was a very tragic end to a young life,'' said Mr. Judge. "And it underlines the madness of this practice known as pack racing.'' A Police report read during the inquest stated that Whitter had been handed a three-month driving ban in Magistrates' Court only two days before the accident.

The report also said the engine capacity of his 80cc Yamaha motorcycle was found to have been illegally increased to 103cc.

Others involved in the race told Police that Whitter was "ducking the breeze'' -- leaning into the bike to cut wind resistance -- and overtaking at speeds of up to 96 kph on the wrong side of the road to get to the front of the pack when he collided with Edwards' car.

In his statements to Police, Edwards said when he approached the bend just before Bethel AME Church, he found himself confronted with a wall of headlights.

"All I saw were the bikes,'' he told officers. "They were on both sides of the road. The whole road was taken up. All I could do was brake.'' Edwards said he believed Whitter struck his car after he had brought the vehicle to a complete stop. He could not say if any of the other pack racers had hit his car as well.

"I just heard the one big bang,'' he said.

Edwards, who was was present in the court room, did not read his own statements because he was "nervous and still very upset'' about the incident.

Another witness, who was a passenger in a car behind Edwards, said "most'' of the other cyclists skidded and fell or rounded the bend "struggling to keep the bikes up right''.

The young woman said she heard someone yell "Stash the bikes!'', and saw several riders shove their cycles in nearby bushes.

She also told Police many of the "16 or 17-year-olds'' were bloodied and injured, including a young man who said he thought his arm was broken.

A Bermuda Fire Service lieutenant, who drove upon the scene shortly after the accident, also spoke of people "covered in blood'' who were "pushing bikes into the bushes''.

When he examined Whitter, no pulse could be found, and he said the teenager's pupils were dilated. The man said Whitter was not wearing a crash helmet when he examined him, although a white one was found nearby.

Dr. John Winnick, consulting pathologist at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, said Whitter died as a result of a ruptured aorta in his heart, in association with his other injuries.

In addition to a "large, jagged laceration'' on the left, frontal portion of his head, Dr. Winnick said Whitter had "multiple lacerations in a head-to-foot direction''.

Both of Whitter's femurs (thigh bones) were broken and displaced, and his left lung had collapsed as a result of blood pooling in his chest from the ruptured aorta. He also sustained back and pelvic injuries.

On August 26, 1989, Whitter and friends Dijaun Simmons and Kenneth Wilson had left Robinson's Marina in Somerset in a poorly-equipped 16-foot Boston Whaler.

A huge air and sea search was launched when the party failed to return, but the operation was scaled down and later called off when no sign could be found of the boat or the three-man crew.

But Whitter and Simmons were picked up by the Greek tanker Chios 90 miles northwest of Bermuda 11 days after their disappearance -- and only 24 hours after Wilson jumped overboard to his death.

The young men survived by drinking their own urine, catching fish and swimming around the boat to escape the intense heat of the sun.