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.

After sending a Mayday alert they were then forced to wait hours before being rescued by the rival California Clipper and Team Finland vessels.

“After our evacuation and on reaching the island it was unreal to look back and see Cork on her side with waves breaking over the port beam,” Mr Coote explained.

“Our life raft was picked up approximately half an hour after leaving theisland by the California crew who were immediately on hand with biscuits and hot tea.

“We are grateful to have escaped with no major injuries and proud to haverallied together as team and survived a harrowing ordeal and test of our resilience,” he added.

The yacht, the Irish entry for the world yacht race, was skippered by 29-year-old Derry man Richie Fearon.

Among the other Irish crew on board were 35-year-old Gavin Kelly from Abbeyfeale in Limerick, 26-year-old Kevin Austen from Dublin, 37-year-old Cork-based Australian Marco Giana, 31-year-old Irishman Michael Lewis who is based in Derby,32-year-old Noreen Osborne from Belfast and 30-year-old London-based Orla Mellett.

The Cork was sailing in 20-knot winds when the incident occurred off the small island of Gosong Mampango at 8.18pm on Wednesday evening.

It was competing in the fifth race of the biennial global challenge which left Geraldton, Western Australia, for Singapore on January 3.

Skipper Richie Fearon said the boat is now lying on its side on the rock with the toe rail underwater and that some hull damage has occurred.

It is unclear whether the Irish team will be able to continue in the 10-month-long 35,000 mile around the world race, which began in Hull in September.