lenseman
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The US Coast Guard in Hawaii has rescued a British citizen described as having little sailing experience from a yacht in a remote part of the Pacific, after the skipper, who was the only other person on board, fell into the sea. The US navy was called in to help the continuing search for the lost yachtsman, also British.
Crew on board a US Coast Guard Hercules plane: aircraft and the navy were called
in to rescue a British man from a yacht after the skipper fell overboard.
Photograph: Reuters
The 35-year-old missing man was conscious and wearing a yellow life jacket when he went overboard about 500 miles (800km) west of the Midway Atoll on Sunday, but he had not been found more than 15 hours later, Coast Guard petty officer Eric J Chandler said.
Officials from the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre based at Falmouth in Britain reported to the US Coast Guard at 11.30pm on Saturday that one man from the 38ft (12-metre) vessel had fallen overboard and the person who remained on board had little sailing experience.
The area nearly 2,000 miles (3,220km) from Oahu was too remote to reach quickly by boat and winds were reported at 25mph (40km/h) with six-foot (two-metre) seas.
"It's real challenging out there," Chandler said. "We can't get our cutters out there."
The Coast Guard sent an HC-130 Hercules plane from an Oahu air station and the navy diverted the USS Peleliu, an amphibious assault ship that was headed homeward, to assist in the search.
Two navy helicopters were sent to search from the Peleliu at about 5am on Sunday. One of them found the boat and winched the stranded person to safety.
The Coast Guard plane had two crews working shifts on the HC-130 so one could rest at Wake Island while the other searched.
The names of those on board the boat were not immediately released and their voyage's purpose was not clear.
Chandler said that while remote the location of the boat was not especially surprising. "People sail pretty often pretty far out of reach," he said. "I don't think that it's that unusual."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/29/british-man-rescued-yacht-overboard
.
Crew on board a US Coast Guard Hercules plane: aircraft and the navy were called
in to rescue a British man from a yacht after the skipper fell overboard.
Photograph: Reuters
The 35-year-old missing man was conscious and wearing a yellow life jacket when he went overboard about 500 miles (800km) west of the Midway Atoll on Sunday, but he had not been found more than 15 hours later, Coast Guard petty officer Eric J Chandler said.
Officials from the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre based at Falmouth in Britain reported to the US Coast Guard at 11.30pm on Saturday that one man from the 38ft (12-metre) vessel had fallen overboard and the person who remained on board had little sailing experience.
The area nearly 2,000 miles (3,220km) from Oahu was too remote to reach quickly by boat and winds were reported at 25mph (40km/h) with six-foot (two-metre) seas.
"It's real challenging out there," Chandler said. "We can't get our cutters out there."
The Coast Guard sent an HC-130 Hercules plane from an Oahu air station and the navy diverted the USS Peleliu, an amphibious assault ship that was headed homeward, to assist in the search.
Two navy helicopters were sent to search from the Peleliu at about 5am on Sunday. One of them found the boat and winched the stranded person to safety.
The Coast Guard plane had two crews working shifts on the HC-130 so one could rest at Wake Island while the other searched.
The names of those on board the boat were not immediately released and their voyage's purpose was not clear.
Chandler said that while remote the location of the boat was not especially surprising. "People sail pretty often pretty far out of reach," he said. "I don't think that it's that unusual."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/29/british-man-rescued-yacht-overboard
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