Queen Mary 2- To The Rescue!

In true seafaring spirit the Cunard Queen Mary 2 was recently involved in the rescue of a British yachtsman who got into difficulty in an extreme Atlantic Storm.

73-year-old British sailor Mervyn Wheatley embarked on his 19th Atlantic crossing when, sailing back single-handed his yacht was severely damaged. The lone yachtsman was taking part in a transatlantic race when it was hit by extreme weather conditions. Despite the yacht called Tamarind, being battered in 15-metre seas by winds reaching 60 knots (69mph), the pensioner was thankfully described as being “uninjured and in good spirits”.

The UK Coastguard and their counterparts in Halifax, Canada, launched a long-range rescue mission involving an RAF C-130 Hercules aircraft after detecting a distress beacon. Meanwhile coordinators radioed the Queen Mary 2 for assistance who duly obliged and diverted her course and headed to the scene.

Captain of the Queen Mary 2, Chris Wells, who led the rescue mission, said it was standard seafaring practice to go to the aid of a vessel in distress. He added: “We were pleased to be able to help and delighted that the yachtsman is safe and well and now on board.”

The yacht was one of five craft competing in the OSTAR and Two Handed Transatlantic Race to be affected by the storm, three of which are understood to have been piloted by British skippers. Despite all of the boats suffering damage, there were no reports of injuries.

Nice to hear a positive news story that ended well for a change, I wonder if they charged him the going rate for a Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Crossing!

Bye for now.