Pixabay
South African Maritime Authorities played an important role in the rescue of a sailor whose racing yacht eventually broke up and sank about 1083km south of Cape Town.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority said the successful retrieval of the skipper of the Yacht “PRB” was a direct result of the collaboration between its Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre, French counterpart, Griz Nes, and the Vendeé Globe Yacht Race authorities and race participants.
The drama unfolded late on Monday afternoon when the MRCC in Cape Town was notified by French authorities of an emergency beacon activation from the “PRB”.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre said it assumed Search and Rescue Coordination of the incident and through further communication with the race organisors, a competitor was alerted and went towards the distress location.
SAMSA said initial efforts of the yacht “Yes we Cam!” to recover the skipper in distress were unsuccessful due to strong winds of up to 50km/h and 5-metre sea swells.
However, by around 3 am on Tuesday, the skipper was safely recovered from a life-raft on to the competitor’s yacht. He will disembark at the Kerguelen Islands.
“Close collaboration, a crucial aspect to effective monitoring and safety of sailors globally, won the day once more during this incident,” SAMSA said.
