Rescue effort underway for sailboats in distress in mid-Atlantic race

HALIFAX – The Canadian Coast Guard has dispatched two ships to the mid Atlantic to assist three sailboats that were battered — and in one case demasted — by a powerful storm during an across-the-ocean race.

A spokesman for the Halifax-based joint rescue co-ordination centre said Friday evening that two of the disabled, mono-hull vessels had one crew member on board, while a third had two crew.

Lt. Len Hickey said the vessels racing between Plymouth, England, and Newport, R.I., encountered very heavy weather late Thursday about 1,660 kilometres east of Newfoundland.

Hickey said conditions in the area remained difficult on Friday evening with 10 to 15 metre seas and winds gusting from 90 to over 100 kilometres per hour.

The vessels are widely spaced out in the ocean, over a distance of about 380 kilometres.

Portugal has sent a military aircraft, while the Canadian Forces have dispatched a Hercules and an Aurora to fly over the area where the damaged vessels are drifting.

Rescue officials tweeted late Friday that Canadian warship HMCS Charlottetown and two coast guard vessels are steaming toward the ships.

There are container ships in the area, but rescue officials say the vessels can’t get too close to the sailboats because of the sea conditions and the difference in size between the merchant ships and the sail boats that are all under 15 metres in length.

Rescue officials said earlier Friday that the rescue co-ordination centre has contact via email and satellite phone with the crew on the vessels and all four men were in good health on Friday evening.