Ex-helmsman sheds light on yacht tragedy

The man who used to helm the US yacht which crashed, claiming the lives of two Cork sailors last weekend, has given a further insight into the sequence of events that led up to the tragedy.

Until 18 months ago Adam McAfee was a core crew member of the 11.5m Low Speed Chase and following Saturday’s disaster he spoke to the boat’s owner James “Jay” Bradford, 41, who was on the vessel when it was struck by massive waves.

Mr Bradford told him the trouble started as the crew was preparing to round the Farallon Islands, the most technically challenging part of the race.