Dismasted yacht helped by Brittany Ferries

On Sunday, a dismasted yacht in the Channel had quite a bit of luck after on board passengers on a Brittany Ferries ship saw a vessel in distress. The Mont St Michael had been going to Portsmouth from Caen and was three-forth of the way in its journey when a passenger is thought to have alarmed the yacht captain at around 5 pm.


On Sunday, a dismasted yacht in the Channel had quite a bit of luck after on board passengers on a Brittany Ferries ship saw a vessel in distress. The Mont St Michael had been going to Portsmouth from Caen and was three-forth of the way in its journey when a passenger is thought to have alarmed the yacht captain at around 5 pm.

It is not yet known whether the crew really had access to VHF communications as they were spotted making hand signals to the ship captain. Anna Wyse was coming back from a holiday in France. She told that it was quite a healthy swell and she guessed about mid force five.

The crew told that over the intercom that the ship captain had to divert the vessel to help a yacht in distress. Someone on board, probably a woman in the restaurant, had seen a yacht and realized that their sails were at a bit of a funny angle and she the alerted the captain. The time when the ferry came along side, the yacht had dismasted.

On board passengers of the ferry said spotting 4-5 people on the yacht and it appeared to be around 34ft long. Ms Wyse added that they were quite well kitted out and all had wet weather gear and lifejackets.

The ferry was there for around forty five minutes, shielding the boat from the wind as well as well while they cut the mast and sails free and got their engine running.

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