mjcoon
Well-known member
Doesn't two "if"s justify it?
UK Catamaran Crew Rescued in Biscay
- Thread starter Graham376
- Start date
Mark-1
Well-known member
Yup. And it's not just the build quality and materials at the time of the build. Wood can rot in a way that GRP just doesn't. An unnoticed knock could have, over time, turn into a big problem. (I've owned 3 plywood dinghies, so I know all about chasing rot.)
Who knows, could be anything, we'll see soon enough. The owner seems like a cracking bloke who will bounce back from this.
Clockworkdog
New member
As far as I can tell from a FB group where the guy actually rescued in this incident talks about it, the boat wasn’t damaged. They were in bad weather that they believe was worsening. He describes large seas and 70 knot winds. The cat he describes as a light-weight self-build. I think the fear was that the weather was deteriorating further and that the boat and its crew would not survive it so the decision was taken to activate a PLB and when a helicopter arrived they abandoned the cat. They are now tracking it I presume with a view to recovering it if possible.
greeny
Well-known member
Thanks for that update. Do you have any link for the fb page so I can read more. Thanks again.
Clockworkdog
New member
Hi - it’s Sailing and Cruising UK - you can join easily enough with moderator approval. Post started 3 days ago. Can’t paste link as viewed from app. Cheers
25931
Well-known member
I thought that Anneliese was a production Oceanic and the year 1972.
Last edited:
cherod
N/A
sailing and cruising UK ,,, post by Tom Barnet ( there may be others )
Clockworkdog
New member
The catamaran involved about 3 / 4 days ago with the British crew airlifted in Biscay was called Ocean Swift.
25931
Well-known member
I was replying to #19 regarding the construction of Rosie Swales catamaran.
Mark-1
Well-known member
Found it, thanks. Coincidentally TB is an acquaintance. Small world.
tony_lavelle
Active member
Has the FB post been deleted? I can't find it.
mjcoon
Well-known member
A quote from Rosie Swale's (not Swales) "Libras Don't Say No": "... our 33,000-mile voyage to Australia and back round Cape Horn in our 30-foot catamaran 'Anneliese'..."
Mark-1
Well-known member
Don't know - I joined the group long enough to read the message, then left so I can't check.
greeny
Well-known member
No its still there. You need to scroll down to 6th July to find the post though.
To save you the trouble:-
Quote from the page:-
"I’m not ashamed to admit that there was a huge cheer and applause from my colleagues," - Piers Stanbury from HM Coastguard talking of the moment when a Spanish Coastguard sent helicopter crew confirmed they'd safely winched two people from off their broken down yacht more than two hundred miles off France.
It began just before 7pm yesterday (5 July) when HM Coastguard received a distress alert from a UK-registered personal locator beacon (PLB).
Thanks to the emergency details registered with the PLB, it was established that the signal had come from a 45 ft catamaran with two people on board, travelling from Cape St Vincent back to the UK.
They were 240NM southwest of Brittany at the time the first alert came in.
Although the skipper of the yacht was known to be experienced, weather conditions in the area were known to be poor. It was also impossible to contact him.
HM Coastguard broadcast a message to the area and used its state-of-the-art Vessel Monitoring Systems to identify ships in the vicinity that might be able to help.
Three tankers in the area were contacted and agreed to divert to where the yacht’s position was being reported by its PLB to do what they could to help.
Simultaneously, HM Coastguard’s Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre, along with French and Spanish Coast Guard worked together to establish which aviation aircraft were best to send.
As the PLB continued to send back its updated position it became clear the catamaran was only moving at one knot in a south-westerly direction, suggesting the vessel was unable to move under its own power.
The Spanish Coast Guard agreed to send a long-range helicopter with a C130 Hercules providing top cover as it was too far for any UK aircraft to get there.
At 10pm one of the tankers managed to make contact with the yacht although communications were very difficult because of the conditions and the distance.
HM Coastguard, through the tanker, managed to confirm with the yacht’s skipper that the catamaran was broken down, that they could not move it and they needed rescue.
The Spanish flight, which had left at 11pm said it would have just 15 minutes to carry out the rescue before it would have to go back.
At just before 11pm one of the tankers arrived and acted as a relay between the yacht and HM Coastguard which continued to coordinate the rescue, coming up with alternative plans with its Spanish colleagues if the air rescue was too difficult to carry out.
But the news everyone had worked for and was waiting for was relayed at just after 1am today (6 July) as the message came back that the Spanish helicopter had safely winched and rescued the two people from the yacht and was taking them back to Spain.
Piers Stanbury from HM Coastguard who worked with his team overnight to coordinate the rescue said:
“I’m not ashamed to admit that there was a huge cheer and applause from my colleagues and I when we had that message to say the two were safe. It was a challenging search and rescue and the work put in not just here in the UK but also in France and Spain by our colleagues showed just why we call ourselves the Search and Rescue Family. We’re so grateful to them and also to the vessels which so willingly diverted to the area to do all they could do help.
“The weather was bad enough to leave us seriously concerned for the welfare of the two people on board the yacht. It also proved a challenge in terms of sending the right aircraft along with the sheer distance of how far away the yacht was. It’s also a reminder why having a PLB with correct contact details really does matter.
“We kept in touch with family members all the time the rescue was carried out and to be able to tell them that their loved ones were safe was a very special moment.”
And the following link.
David Southward
New member
Any news on where the cat is now is he back in possession
greeny
Well-known member
Not heard or seen anything since.
yves75
New member
There are a few articles about it in Voiles & voiliers (french sailing mag) :
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...a-l-aide-5b50ad8a-ee18-11eb-8233-cfbd517169ae
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...19-jours-41167f2e-ebbd-11eb-86fd-b30370d18cf3
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...lecteurs-3727a1e6-ec94-11eb-b600-a538775c4f78
Apparently an attempt was made by some cruisers to rescue the cat who went on the spot, but they couldn't manage it (doesn't say why)
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...a-l-aide-5b50ad8a-ee18-11eb-8233-cfbd517169ae
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...19-jours-41167f2e-ebbd-11eb-86fd-b30370d18cf3
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...lecteurs-3727a1e6-ec94-11eb-b600-a538775c4f78
Apparently an attempt was made by some cruisers to rescue the cat who went on the spot, but they couldn't manage it (doesn't say why)
Frogmogman
Well-known member
Heartwarming to read of the solidarity being displayed by fellow sailors. I hope he is successful in recovering his pride and joy.
David Southward
New member
The cat is based in my home port of Ravenglass but she has been moored in Faro for a couple of years,I hope she gets back.
yves75
New member
He got his boat back :
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...-anglais-e012d882-f204-11eb-b2a3-c3407f6031f8
But apparently v&v are a bit pissed about his lack of communication (last paragraph)
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...-anglais-e012d882-f204-11eb-b2a3-c3407f6031f8
But apparently v&v are a bit pissed about his lack of communication (last paragraph)