UK family in mayday call as yacht hits coral reef in the Pacif ic

A BRITISH family on a sailing trip in the South Pacific spent a terrifying night on their wrecked yacht after running aground on a remote coral reef.

The family of four struck Beveridge Reef which is around 200 miles from the nearest inhabited island.

Luckily a whale research boat was moored in the calm waters inside the circular reef. It was the only other vessel within hundreds of miles.

The researchers happened to have their radio on when the Britons sent out a distress signal yesterday. After making direct contact, they decided the family could survive the night where they were.

At first light they sent a dinghy to collect the couple and their son and daughter, said to be 13 and 11, along with just a handful of possessions, and bring them to safety. The reef attracts several species of shark.

Last night the family were still on the research ship which was waiting for calmer weather before it can continue the 130 miles to the island of Niue.

The family were sailing a 50ft Avanti catamaran when they hit trouble, said Geoff Lunt of the Rescue Co-ordination Centre of New Zealand, which handled the emergency operation.

It was only thanks to the chance proximity of the 60ft sailing boat the Dona Catharina, which was on its way from New Zealand to Nuie to carry out a whale research programme, that anything could be done, he said. Mr Lunt continued: ‘The skipper of Dona Catharina answered the emergency radio call from our Maritime Operations Centre within seven minutes. It was very fortunate they were anchored in the lagoon and listening to the distress channel at 2.30am.’

Mr Lunt said that, although the catamaran was taking in water, it was stuck hard on the reef, meaning it was unlikely to sink. It meant the crew of the Dona Catharina could wait until daylight to venture outside the safety of the lagoon in a dinghy and rescue the family.

The Britons left the wreck with little more than their passports, he added. ‘They are now comfortable on board, within the safety of the lagoon,’ said Mr Lunt.

The captain of the Dona Catharina, Marin Vogel, said in a brief satellite phone call last night: ‘The family were pretty distressed but they’re all sleeping now. They’re coping remarkably well.’

Beveridge Reef is so remote it is not properly charted. It is described as being ‘like a swimming pool in the middle of the ocean’.