DEATHS PUT FOCUS ON BOAT SAFETY : SAUGUS FAMILY'S TRAGEDY PROMPTS REVIEW OF RULES.

Byline: Laurence Darmiento Daily News Staff Writer

Last November as a storm churned the warm South Sea waters off the coast of New Zealand, three members of the Sleavin family slept inside the warm confines of their home away from home, the 20-ton yacht Melinda Lee.

Three years into a five-year, round-the-world tour, the Saugus family had made its way from the Tonga Islands in an armada of pleasure craft seeking shelter from the tropical storm season.

As her two small children and husband slept, on watch in the dead of night was Judith Sleavin, who left her job as a Santa Clarita engineer to pursue her family's dream. Inside the cabin, Sleavin told authorities she was plotting her course. Above, the ship's lights were a beacon to passing ships.

But they weren't enough.

In a tragedy that has garnered international attention, the small craft was rammed by a freighter killing everyone but Sleavin, 43, who clung to a dinghy for 36 hours until washing up on a remote New Zealand beach.

Last week Korean police accused a 26-year-old mate on the log carrier Pan Grace of negligence after paint tests showed the 27,000-ton ship to be the freighter that pierced the Melinda Lee's hull.

The mate, Han Sang-yoon, reportedly has told authorities he saw a red light off the freighter's bow shortly before the accident and altered his course, but Korean maritime investigators said his response was lacking.

U.S. Coast Guard officials, meanwhile, say that Sleavin was following currently recommended safety procedures for pleasure craft, but the accident has shown that tougher ones may be in order.

``We want to see how we can prevent something like this happening again. That is always a focus,'' said Scott Thurber, a Coast Guard chief warrant officer who investigated the fatal collision. ``We have made several recommendations.''

The recommendations are included in a preliminary report that has yet to be approved by Coast Guard officials in Washington, D.C. However, Thurber did say that watch procedures have been examined closely.

Judith Sleavin was on watch at the time of the accident, but she was checking the yacht's course.

``She was awake. There were not four people sleeping. There was a watch set,'' Thurber said. ``But she had just gone below deck for course plotting. With the weather as it was, it may have been better to have someone on deck at all times.''

A recommendation included in the preliminary report seeks to have watch procedures stiffened in dangerous sailing conditions. Not only was there a storm, but the yacht was in shipping channels and near the coast, he said.

Doug Rabe, chief of investigations for the Coast Guard's Washington headquarters, refused to comment on specific recommendations in the report pending its review and release, expected in a few weeks.

But he did note that whatever the recommendation, the Coast Guard will be hard put to implement such policies for pleasure craft in international waters.

``The Coast Guard does not have rules such vessels have to comply with other than the rules all boats have to follow on the open seas,'' he said. ``The Coast Guard does not have that authority in international waters.''

However, Rabe said that new safety guidelines could be incorporated in informational pamphlets available from the agency, and that the agency could work with sailing schools in disseminating them.

Sleavin could not be reached for comment for this story. She has retained attorneys in San Francisco who did not return calls for comment.