Irish sailor recounts harrowing ordeal after yacht hits rocks

ONE of the Irish sailors who narrowly escaped disaster after their yacht struck rocks in Indonesian waters during a major worldwide race has spoken of his near-death escape.

Irishman Sean Coote, a 47-year-old who lives in Sunbury-on-Thames in Britain, was on board the Clipper named Cork with 15 other crew members when it crashed into a submerged reef near the island of Gosong Mampango in the Java Sea, 200 miles north-east of Jakarta on Wednesday night.

The Irish, British, Australian and Chinese crew abandoned the stricken racing yacht in life rafts launched into the dangerous waters before heading for nearby rocks.