Southampton sailors rescued from The Pelican yacht off African coast (From Daily Echo)

Southampton sailors rescued from The Pelican yacht off African coast

11:01am Wednesday 2nd December 2009

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FOUR Southampton sailors have been rescued from their yacht off the coast of Africa during a transatlantic fun rally.

They were evacuated by a line and lifebuoy last night to a giant cargo ship, the Crimson Mars, following a rig failure in the Atlantic Ocean nine days into the their voyage.

The five-man crew of the 53-foot Roberts yacht, the Pelican, were among 210 vessels racing 2,700 nautical miles from the Gran Canaria to St Lucia in the Caribbean.

Skipper and owner Darryl Saxton from Southampton issued a May Day call to the coastguard back in Falmouth citing an "unacceptable risk to crew" as the yacht was unable to motor and the rig was in a "dangerous condition" from several failures.

The coastguard in the Azores co-ordinated the evacuation to the woodchip carrier Crimson Mars some 325 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. The ship is now heading to Gibraltar.

The Pelican was abandoned.

Jeremy Wyatt from the rally organiser, Cowes based World Cruising, said there were no reports of any injuries and the men, in their 40s and 50s, were thought to be "safe and well".

The Pelican set out on Sunday November 22. The transatlantic crossing takes racers between 18 and 21 days.

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