British skipper safe after dramatic south Atlantic rescue

Golden Globe Race skipper Ian Herbert Jones from Shropshire, England, has been evacuated from his yacht in the south Atlantic after he suffered a back injury and gashed his head when he was rolled in seven metre seas, losing the rig.

A dramatic 24 hours began when Ian, 52, a former British Army engineer who works in the software industry, contacted the race office mid-afternoon on day 218 of his intended circumnavigation, 10 April, to say he was in extreme weather and confused seas with 50 knots of wind, gusting over 70 knots. The married father-of-three was running under bare poles and trying to hand steer downwind in his Tradewind 35, Puffin

Ian was several hundred miles west of southern Patagonia, lying third in the race’s Chichester class, having had to make a stop for repairs earlier in the race.

He reported that the yacht was being laid over by wind and waves and there was a small amount of water down below.

Then the line went dead and contact with Ian was lost. He called again 10 minutes later to say he could not launch his drogue to keep Puffin stern to the waves. Conditions were extreme, he had been washed out of the cockpit twice and he had activated his EPIRB so that Search And Rescue in Argentina would be aware of his position and situation.

Race organiser Don McIntyre advised Ian that the extreme weather would last for at least another five hours. Launching the drogue, to keep Puffin stern-on to the waves and avoid being rolled, would be critical.

The race office confirmed with MRCC Argentina that they had received Ian’s EPIRB signal, but two hours later Ian sent a message via his Yellow-Brick YB3 satellite tracking and texting unit – he had pressed the distress alert button, recognised as a distress protocol for all GGR entrants, suggesting he was in trouble and could not text or use the sat phone.

Search and Rescue Puerto Belgrano began coordinating a rescue with commercial ships in Ian’s vicinity, including a tanker 120 miles north of his position and several fishing boats. However, contact with them still had to be made and meanwhile winds were 55 knots, gusting 88 knots. Just over an hour later, at 1840, Puffin sent the message: “Rolled dismasted, injured back, hard to move, 2ft water in boat.”

Then at 1844, a second message read: “Situation getting worse... need weather break to cut rig from Puffin.”

The 7.7m south west sea also had a forecast 1.8m north east secondary swell at nine second intervals – two opposing seas sure to cause highly confused and dangerous conditions.

The race office reported: “With the mast down hanging over the side and Ian unable to cut the rig clear, the risk of damage to the hull is real. The motion of the Puffin without a mast is also very dynamic.”

At 2015 a further message was received from Ian, saying he had gashed his head while trying to cut away the rig. His back was painful and stiff, with movement difficult.

As night fell, Ian waited for conditions to ease before any vessels in the area could reach him. Three Taiwanese fishing boats headed towards him, the first to arrive being the Zi Da Wang, poisitioning herself to windward of Ian while discussing how he could be transferred via VHF.

At 1930, around 26 hours after Ian’s first distress message, the race office was told that Ian was safely aboard the Zi Da Wang “bruised, cut, scraped, still with a back injury, but safe”.

The Tradewind 35 was then scuttled so she would not remain a potential hazard to navigation and the Zi Da Wang headed for Cape Town.

Meanwhile, at the front of the Golden Globe Race fleet, as we went to press, British sailor Simon Curwen was on course to come in first, even though a repair stop earlier in the race means he can’t be awarded the winner’s trophy.

Curwen had to make a 1,000 mile detour in the south Pacific but since caught up the front-runners and will likely lead them into Les Sables d’Olonne.

The battle for the official first place was on, with non-stop circumnavigators Abhilash Tomy from India and Kirsten Neuschafer from South Africa both very close as they reached the latitude of southern Portugal.