Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Mini Yacht Rescued




The Brazilian solo-sailor Carlos Alberto de Matos Luis was doing a 1000 miles qualification for the Mini Transat race that will start in September in Rochelle, France to Salvador in Brazil.
On his way from Duarnenet to Ireland and back he got into trouble in the Gulf of Biscay in 40 knots of wind and big waves when the keel of his mini started to break. After sending a distress signal using his Epirb, he was rescued by the French Coastguard.
The Coastguard requested our Flinterhaven, underway from Liepaja to Santander, to salvage the abandoned yacht, because it was a danger to navigation. The crew of Flinterhaven, in a 3 hour operation, managed to safely connect to the yacht. In this operation the broker mast had to be cut loose.

More information about this extreme sailing class on http://www.minitransat650.com/