Rudderless Yacht Scuttled after Tow Failed

by Antigua Sun/Sail-World on 26 Jan 2007 Tall ship Tenacious, the largest wooden tall ship of her kind in the world, and operated by the Jubilee Sailing Trust, last month rescued seven French sailors from their stricken yacht, a 43 foot Sun Odyssey called the ZOUK.

After making many attempts to tow the vessel, the Captain of Tenacious, together with the skipper of ZOUK, decided to give up the attempt and scuttle the yacht, to avoid her becoming a danger to other shipping.

This story, while sad for the owner and crew, contrasts with the incredible seamanship displayed by the Skipper and crew of the sailing boat Y Not, who, having lost their rudder, experimented with different methodologies, and finally sailed their boat 1400 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean. See http://www.sail-world.com/news.cfm?Nid=29988&SRCID=7&RequestTimeOut=180&hasFlash=1!Sail-World_story!same

This mid-Atlantic rescue occurred at the beginning of December, whilst Tenacious was completing a 30-day voyage from Gran Canaria to Antigua.

After receiving a distress call from the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, (MRCC) Fort de France based in Martinique, the crew sailed to meet the yacht, which had been drifting without a rudder for several days.

Having made direct contact with the ZOUK, 2nd Engineer Steve Garrett and 2nd Mate Steve Higgs used one of the ships inflatable ribs to lend assistance.

Despite the difficult conditions Garrett boarded the yacht and helped the crew to rig a towing bridle. This was no small task as the combination of the force of wind and sea put huge stresses on the line and the yacht.

Three of the crew from the yacht also transferred to Tenacious leaving four, including the yacht’s skipper on board.

Without the rudder the yacht did not respond to the terrible conditions and this put a huge strain on the towing line. During the course of Sunday morning the line snapped and once again the ZOUK was adrift.

Despite repeated attempts made by the crew on board Tenacious to tow the French vessel into Antigua, appalling weather conditions meant that Captain Barbara Campbell in consultation with the Skipper of the ZOUK was forced to abandon any attempt to save the yacht as it could not be towed safely.

To prevent the ZOUK from becoming a hazard to other ships it was necessary to sink the yacht.

The Jubilee Sailing Trust owns and operates two beautiful square-riggers Sts. Lord Nelson and SV Tenacious. These magnificent vessels are ground breaking in the world of tall ships as they are the only tall ships in the world to have been specifically designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail together as equals.