Sailing AdventuresUK
Royal Navy Warship rescues Sailors after Rogue Wave Hits 60ft Clyde Challenger
Fourteen sailors have been rescued by the crew of a Royal Navy destroyer after they were stranded for 48 hours in the Atlantic.
The 60ft Clyde Challenger yacht lost its mast in turbulent waters as it was returning from the Azores, in the mid-Atlantic, to the UK and the crew waited 20 hours for HMS Dragon to reach them.
Roy Graham, the yacht’s skipper, said: “It hit us and knocked us over and dragged the crosstrees into the water, which dragged the mast into the water and snapped it at deck level.”
The Portsmouth-based naval ship tracked down the yacht and then sprinted at 30 knots through rough seas to reach the crew at 2.30pm on Saturday.
They were about 610 miles southwest of Land’s End.
After treatment for minor injuries and some hot food, the sailors – 13 Britons and one American – were able to call their loved ones.