All of the sailors who issued distress calls after their boats were damaged by near hurricane-force winds during a race across the Atlantic Ocean are now safe, thanks in part to Canadian rescuers and a British cruise ship.
Capt. Marc Saucier, air coordinator of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, told CTV News Channel that commercial boats had rescued sailors from three of four racing vessels that issued distress calls after being damaged in the storm that struck late Thursday.
Two other damaged vessels, including one that had issued a distress call, managed to sail to safety out of the storm.
A commercial tug rescued two people from a yacht called “Happy,” an oil and gas vessel rescued two from the sailboat “Furia” and the cruise ship Queen Mary 2 helped a British man off “the Tamarind,” Capt. Saucier said.
Chris Wells, captain of the Queen Mary 2, told CTV News Channel that his luxury liner was more than 300 miles (482 kilometres) from the Tamarind when British rescuers asked him to change course.
The Queen Mary 2 sailed slowly but surely toward the storm, arriving in the vicinity of the yacht about 10 hours later, Capt. Wells said.
If it wasn’t for a Canadian Air Force plane dropping smoke bombs, according to the captain, he would not have been able to see it.
“There were big seas, six metres or so, and mostly the hull of the yacht was behind the crest of the waves,” Capt. Wells said. He said the Tamarind wasn’t visible until they were two miles (3.2 kilometres) away.
A rescue boat was deployed, picked up the British sailor and then raised him 27 metres onto the ship.
“That’s a little bit dangerous but we got it up all safely,” Capt. Wells said.
Doctors checked out the sailor who is “absolutely fine,” he added.
“We found a cabin for him, dry clothes for him, and we are sending him for afternoon tea,” he said.
“I think he’ll be much more comfortable here than he would be on his 38-foot boat crossing the Atlantic,” Capt. Wells added.
Karen Saunders-Hill, from Orangeville, Ont., told CTVNews.ca by email that it took about an hour for the British sailor to be brought onboard. She said staff and passengers cheered during the rescue, which she called “impressive and fast.”
Saunders-Hill said passengers were told the sailor will be dropped off on Tuesday in Halifax, N.S.
Canada’s Joint Task Force Atlantic said Friday that it had dispatched two Canadian Coast Guard vessels, a naval ship and two Air Force planes to aid the sailboats, which were roughly 1,700 kilometres east of Newfoundland.
British and Portuguese aircraft were also deployed.
JRCC Maj. Rhonda Stevens told The Canadian Press that, in addition to the U.K. national, two of those rescued are Dutch and the other two are Bulgarian.
The sailboats had set out on May 29 to compete in the Royal Western Yacht Club’s 2,900 nautical mile race from Plymouth, England to Newport, R.I.
Early Friday, they encountered a storm with winds of up to 110 km/hour, according to the yacht club.
The yacht club issued a statement saying that five vessels had been damaged by the storm. The “Harmonii” turned around and headed to the Azores while the “Suomi Kudu” headed back to the United Kingdom, it said.
