The crew of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) yacht, Navillus, a Bavaria 50, rescued three yachtsmen from a sinking catmaran in the Atlantic 750 miles from the Caribbean. The multihull was already using her emergency tiller following the failure of her steering system.

Pete Kyne from St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles, his 17-year-old son Adam and one other crew member were rescued from their Quest 31 catamaran Spam when their boat was dismasted. The mast punched a hole in one of the hulls and she began sinking.

Kyne called Falmouth Coastguard who contacted the ARC organisers to muster assistance and also broadcast a distress relay to vessels in the area. ARC director Jeremy Wyatt plotted the sinking catamaran’s postion then contacted three ARC yachts in the vicinity asking them to radio the nearest yacht. Known as Scillypete on Yachting Monthly’s Scuttlebutt forum, his wife went online to thank the rescuers and reveal how her husband called her up before making a Mayday so she would not worry! He revealed to her that one hull was full to the gunnel.

Earlier in the rally the two crew of a Westerly Corsair abandoned their boat after the chain plates started to fail. See Dick Durham’s blog. They were picked up by another ARC yacht. The Westerly, Barbary Duck (pictured) was spotted by another ARC yacht yesterday and is now dismasted.