World ARC Rally Yacht Strikes Reef off Cairns

by BW Studios - News round-up on 4 Aug 2008 The two crew of World ARC yacht Asolare have been successfully evacuated from the yacht, an Amel 54, after it struck a reef approximately 200nm from Cairns in the early hours of Sunday 3rd August. Both Skipper Peter Turner and crewman Tim Wood are safe and well following their helicopter rescue and have now arrived in Cairns.

The yacht in position 15 52S 149 10E had struck Moore Reef approximately 52 nautical miles North West of Willis Island in the Coral Sea, whilst en route from Vanuatu to Australia. The Australian Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) was alerted by the New Zealand RCC which had picked up the initial distress call. The Australian RCC then dispatched a fixed wing aircraft and a rescue helicopter to the scene. At 0830 both crew were winched aboard the helicopter, which after refuelling at Willis Island Meteorological Station landed the crew at Cairns.

Speaking to the waiting reporters in Cairns, Peter said 'I don't feel bad, I just feel very sad that I've lost a super yacht that was less than a year old.'

Peter is a veteran sailor with half a century of experience. He told the Telegraph that Asolare, launched in June 2007, had been valued at £800,000 but was now unsalvagable.

'Nowhere is nice to smash into a reef,' he said. 'But if I had to choose somewhere this was as good a place as any.

'Our charts did not show any reef in that area at all. We hit the reef really heavily. There was an amazing crash and immediately she turned over on to her side.

'It started leaking water and we had a rough time for three hours.'

Peter said they contacted rescue authorities before taking passports, valuables and money and abandoning the ship.

'We got what we could off. The rest we just had to leave but you are very welcome to it - there are a lot of nice goodies out there.'

The only catch was it would be almost impossible to salvage.

'The whole thing has been quite eventful, not quite what I planned for a Sunday morning,' he said.

It was Peter's first rescue and he had nothing but high praise for search-and-rescue crews, who had a spotter plane overhead within half an hour of his distress call.

An Emergency Management Queensland spokesman said the rescue had been made difficult by the extremely long range mission into the Coral Sea.

The Cairns-based chopper and crew had to stop to refuel at tiny Willis Island before carrying out the rescue.

Letter from Reader:

Sender: Pete Jobson

Message: We all make mistakes when sailing and I commiserate with the owner who has lost a very nice yacht. Hopefully the insurance will cover him even though the accident was due to 'Pilot Error'. Well, that is why we take out insurance in the first place isn't it? Our passage charts from New Caledonia to Aus clearly show the reef - I am sure that such an expensive yacht also has up to date charts plus chart plotter.

We hope that we remain as nervous and stressed about all things sailing to continue to pay good attention to detail. Skipper and mate always cross-check each other. - I have plotted a course in the Tuomotus to run across a small atoll! until my mate pointed it out!

Yacht Nadezhda - POR: Southampton - Currently in Darwin