(from that site) "Blinded by the lights of a passing sailboat" seems to imply that the accident happened at night. It it was a moonless night, it's quite believable that that could have happened. Having spent a lot of time on the waters in southern Jersey as a child, I can attest to the fact that, aside from the one light on them (brighter now than they used to be, I'll admit) bouys and markers are hard to see on dark nights.
Of course, given all that, he was just going too damn fast...
I wonder if they gave the drive a sobriety test...