Cruising yacht sunk by whale

Three British sailors were rescued from their sinking yacht after she was holed by a whale. The sailors, aged between 41 and 61, were taken from their damaged Hallberg Rassy 48 about 350 miles north east of the Azores in May. The stricken yacht, Destiny

of Scarborough, put out a distress call after being hit by a large whale. Skipper David Bowes told the Mirror: ‘It felt as if we had been punched. I was thrown across the saloon.’ He decided to abandon his ‘pride and joy’ when cracks appeared in the hull and water flooded in.

The Portuguese Navy sent two aircraft before a Liberianflagged merchant vessel took the crew to Aviles in Spain.