RedactedNarrative: On October 16, 2017 at approximately 1:55PM I, Officer, responded to a call for a vessel accident at the Kent Narrows drawbridge.   
  
       I arrived on the scene at 2:15PM and made contact with the bridge tender, who witnessed the accident. Witness1 stated that a sailing vessel named Wind Dancer (white, 1988 Pearson, Doc#936298) struck the bridge while passing through and had broken a navigational light attached to the bridge. After being struck, the navigational light broke free from the bridge and remained attached only by a single cable. Witness1 stated that after the collision he repeatedly attempted to make contact with the vessel via the VHF radio but all of his attempts went unanswered. The Wind Dancer failed to stop and continued on into the Chester River traveling in the direction of Rock Hall. Officer attempted to catch up with the vessel but was unable to do so due to inclement weather. Corporal, who also heard the call over the radio, was waiting at Rock Hall marina in case the vessel returned to Rock Hall. 
  
       With the information given by Witness1, I found that the Wind Dancer was a rental vessel and was rented out by Haven Charters of 20846 Rock Hall Avenue in the town of Rock Hall in Kent County, Maryland. I made contact with a representative for Haven Charters who stated that they were unaware of the accident and the vessel was rented out and due to return within the hour. I relayed this information to Corporal who traveled to Haven Charters to wait for the vessel to return. 
  
       The vessel arrived at Haven Charters at approximately 4:30PM at which point Corporal made contact with the occupants in order to gather a statement from the individuals on board. The operator of the vessel advised that they had rented the vessel for the weekend to sail to Saint Michaels and on their way back to Haven Harbor they came to the Kent Narrows Bridge. When they arrived at the Kent Narrows bridge they were traveling at approximately two knots, the tide was running northbound and the winds were north to south at approximately 25 knots. 
  
  Operator advised that as they passed under the bridge the stern of the vessel moved to the left toward the bridge wall while the bow moved slightly to the right. Operator then maneuvered the vessel back to operating straight through the channel but the mast brushed against the opened portion of the bridge. Operator advised that he heard some brief metal on metal scraping but it ended quickly and he saw no visible damage to his vessel or the bridge and for this reason he did not stop. Operator stated that he assumed that if there were any damage done to the bridge, the bridge tender would have called him on the phone because that is how they contacted him initially to verify the bridge would be open. Operator’s statement was corroborated by the other three passengers who were adamant that they were unaware that their contact with the bridge had done any damage.  Corporal cleared the scene after getting the written statement from Operator. 
  
       I contacted Haven Charters again on October 17, 2017 in order to gather the insurance information for the vessel for any repairs to the bridge. This information was passed on to the bridge tender, Witness1, and the Maryland State Highway Administration who had contacted me that morning. The damage was estimated by the State Highway Administration to be $7,500.  
       
       The winds at the time of the accident were 25+ knots out of the north with occasional gusts exceeding 35 knots, the tide was coming in from the Kent Narrows to the Chester River and there was no other boat traffic in the area. No other structures, vessels or property were damaged as a result of the accident. 
  
       All events occurred in Queen Anne and Kent Counties.