Sailor airlifted from another distressed vessel in transatlantic race

A sailor was airlifted from another sailboat that ran into troubled waters in a transatlantic race, rescue officials said Sunday.

The joint rescue co-ordination centre said two aircraft were sent to rescue the sailor off the southeast coast of Newfoundland.

The centre said a lone crew member was hoisted into a Cormorant helicopter and flown to St. John’s on Sunday.

At least four sailboats ran into trouble in the mid Atlantic on Friday and Saturday, and crews on board three of the boats had to be rescued.

The vessels were sailing in a race from Plymouth, England to Newport, Rhode Island when they encountered stormy waters and had to call for help.

The Royal Western Yacht Club of England, which rungs the single-handed and twohanded transatlantic races, said the remaining nine boats are “safe and well” as they cruise toward the finish line.

Race director John Lewis said he believes the worst of the swells have passed, but competitors are set to brave strong winds as the abnormally intense weather system tracks across the Atlantic.

“(It’s) had an effect obviously on the competitors,” Lewis said in a phone interview Sunday. “There are extremes in life whatever way you look at it, and sometimes you just cannot beat the weather.”

Lewis said more boats have been retired or required rescue than in previous races, and complimented the Canada’s “superb” response to the distress calls.

The Canadian Coast Guard will likely bear the cost of the operations, Lewis said, but if the tables were turned, British officials would do the same.

“All nations support coast guard agencies and support seamen in distress,” he said.

“It would be exactly the same in the U.K. if we had vessels in distress, we would go.”