Five crew members had to be rescued from yacht Pelican after rig failure

The five crew members were evacuated from onboard their 53 foot Roberts design last last night following a rig failure, approximately 325 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.

The Singapore flagged merchant vessel Crimson Mars diverted to assist the yacht at the request of MRCC Falmouth, after skipper Darryl Saxton called a MayDay citing the “unacceptable risk to his crew” of remaining aboard. The yacht was also unable to motor and the rig was considered to be in a dangerous condition following several failures.

MRCC Falmouth and MRCC Ponta Delgada (Azores) were involved in co-ordinating the evacuation.

The MV Crimson Mars rendezvoused with the Pelican, and as the yacht was unable to manoeuvre, the ship’s Master decided to transfer the crew via line and lifebuoy. All were safely transferred. The ship is now en route to Gibraltar and the Pelican has been abandoned – the owner having taken the decision not to scuttle the yacht.

At the time of the incident, weather conditions were around Force 4 East-Northeasterly, with a swell of up to 2 metres.