Irish sailor safe as race yacht hits reef

Irish sailor Brian Carlin had a lucky escape over the weekend when his team’s yacht in the Volvo Ocean Race hit a reef in the Indian Ocean, forcing the crew to abandon to life rafts.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon during the race from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi when the seven- boat fleet was about 430km north-east of Mauritius.

Mr Carlin, from Tralee, Co Kerry, is the on-board reporter for the Team Vestas Wind entry skippered by Australian Chris Nicholson.

The cause of the accident is unknown. The new 20m yacht grounded heavily and the twin rudders were smashed. Unable to steer, the stern of the boat grounded and was badly damaged. Watertight bulkheads inside the carbon yacht were closed to minimise flooding and nine crew prepared to board two life rafts at dawn yesterday.

A small inflatable from a coastguard station 1.3km away assisted in the operation, while the Alvimedica team, the closest competitor, was diverted by the race management team to stand-by as close as possible to render assistance. Cargados Carajos is an archipelago comprising a number of sand banks, shoals and islets that is otherwise known as Saint Brandon and is a group of outer islands belonging to Mauritius.

The yacht was last night fully abandoned, high and dry, while firmly lodged on the reef. All nine crew members were uninjured and accommodated at the coastguard station. Attempts to make contact with the team members by race headquarters were ongoing last night.

The coming week will see members of the shore team arrive from Mauritius to the island to assess options for a possible salvage operation.

In the best-case scenario, the boat would be lifted off the rocks and taken to a yard for repair work. In that case, the team may yet rejoin the race but much later.