South Atlantic: Two sailors lost at sea when yacht capsizes
by Tom Sampson 24 Mar 2019 17:45 PDT
SY Paradise © SV Seabed Constructo
SY Paradise was en route from South Georgia to The Falkland Islands when she capsized in heavy seas on 5th March, 2019. Of the 8 people on board 2 were swept overboard and lost at sea. noonsite.com
The SY Paradise is a 20m yacht which offers cruises in the South Atlantic as far as Antarctica and the Falklands and up the coast of Patagonia.
A distress call was received on the 5th March 2019 by the British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) Joint Operations Cell on the Falkland Islands from the SY Paradise. The yacht had been capsized by a large wave during severe weather conditions while on passage from South Georgia to Uruguay (having previously been in the Falklands). Of the eight people on board, two had been swept overboard and were missing. The remaining six people were still on the boat which had righted itself following the capsize. One person with head injuries required evacuation to hospital.
The BFSAI asked the MV Seabed Constructor, a deep ocean search and survey vessel, to provide assistance. They were located 77NM from SY Paradise, located at Latitude 47° 58.9 S, Longitude 045° 41.2 W.
The rescue that followed was coordinated from the Falklands Islands. An RAF aircraft from Mount Pleasant Airport in the Falklands was soon over the site and was able to relay communications between the yacht and the Seabed Constructor.
When the Seabed Constructor arrived on site, a rescue boat was lowered in challenging conditions. Pascale Noel, a 58-year-old crew member from Luxembourg, was transferred to the Seabed Constructor where her head injuries were attended to. The rescue was completed by 22.28.
Le Bien Republic reported that information from Pascale confirmed that two people were lost overboard, one of whom was the yacht's 66 year old French skipper, Arnaud Dhallenne, the other was a French woman of 68 who resides in Uruguay.
SY Paradise subsequently made it's own way, under sail, to the Falkland Islands.
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Noonsite has not independently verified this information.
This article has been provided by the courtesy of noonsite.com.