Multihull designer Richard Wood and his crew Jetti Mantzke were airlifted from their 32ft catamaran Eclipse off the Pacific coast of Mexico in a 70 mph storm.

The pair had left Nicaragua on Friday 13th – always an inauspicious day for commencing a passage – and soon hit heavy weather. After making satellite phone calls and sending out a Mayday the USS Ford sent a helicopter to rescue them. 

‘The last book I had read was Perfect Storm, so I knew all about the skills and training of naval rescue personnel. We had earlier prepared some dry bags which we filled with passports, money, ship papers,’ Wood said, ‘as I was hoisted out, I looked down and back at Eclipse and hoped I would see her again.’