Yachtsmen safe after running into vicious Atlantic storm

All crew aboard four stormbattered vessels that had been racing across the Atlantic Ocean are safe, the Halifaxbased joint rescue co-ordination centre said Saturday.

A spokeswoman for the centre said crew on two sailboats that put out distress calls were rescued Saturday morning, while a third boat made its way to calmer waters.

Maj. Rhonda Stevens said the cruise liner Queen Mary 2 picked up a British sailor from a disabled yacht and is en route to Halifax, and two Dutch sailors rescued from another vessel in the mid-Atlantic are on a tanker headed towards the Bahamas.

A fourth vessel in the race declared a state of emergency on Saturday when it started taking on water, she said. The two Bulgarian sailors on board have been rescued and are on a research vessel headed to St. John’s, N.L.

Stevens said sailors braved up to 10 metre swells in damaged boats, one of which saw its mast collapse. Some of the boats were manned by one crew member fighting off fatigue while trying to keep afloat in the heaving waters.

“It obviously was a long, drawn-out (effort) with a couple of days of uncertainty,” said Stevens. “Those sailors were very experienced, so they hung on and did what they had to until we could get the rescue complete.”

Stevens said rescuers faced challenging conditions during Saturday’s mission, but with support in the skies from the Royal Canadian Air Force as well as British and Portuguese aircraft, nearby vessels came to the sailors’ aid and brought everyone to safety.

“When people are in distress, everybody willingly comes to help,” said Stevens. “Rescuers showed their heroism and their passion for working on the sea and their skills, and they were able to save the lives of those people that were in distress.”

A spokesperson for Cunard, which owns the Queen Mary 2, said the cruise liner was involved in the rescue operation, and that the lone sailor who was picked up is now safely on board.

Two coast guard vessels and the Canadian warship HMCS Charlottetown were sent to the scene on Friday, but Stevens said the vessels were later called off. She said two Hercules and an Aurora aircraft took turns patrolling the area, keeping in contact with the sailors on board.