On Thursday 7 November Clipper Around the World Yacht Race crewman, Australian David Griffin (40) was transferred to NSRI Rescue 6 Alpha to take him to a waiting ambulance in Port Elizabeth for hospital treatment following puncturing his calf on a cleat, when he was hit by a wave on the bow of Mission Performance.
In an other incident we will see one more Clipper Round the World yacht – Derry~Londonderry~Doire as she diverts to Port Elizabeth to evacuate a crew member with a suspected broken upper arm as a precautionary measure ahead of two and a half weeks tough racing in the Southern Ocean.
Michelle Porter (36) from London fell onto her arm when the yacht was hit by a large wave. Yesterday the yacht was 250 nautical Miles from Port Elizabeth and is estimated to arrive this evening. The casualty is expected to be transferred to hospital via the NSRI.
The yacht Derry~Londonderry~Doire was hit by a large breaking wave which knocked the vessel sideways. Skipper Sean McCarter reported: “I got on deck to see two crew obviously in pain. Unfortunately one was our medic, round the world crew member Susie Redhouse (42), thus making me the new medic. We quickly got Susie down below with what we feared may be a broken arm. Next was our chief of staff, another round the world crew, Michelle Porter, who swore she was ok but couldn’t move her arm. We eventually got them both down below and out of their lifejackets and dry suits to begin the examination. Susie’s arm turned out to be a bad bang but Michelle is still in her bunk and we suspect it could be broken.”
Other yachts experienced lucky escapes during a particularly ferocious storm which hit the fleet heading through the Indian Ocean from South Africa into the notorious ‘Roaring Forties’ in the Southern Ocean. Many skippers have paid tribute to their crews for digging deep and applying their training and growing experience to react accordingly in order to keep their yachts sailing safe as well as fast.
Below is the Race Viewer for Leg 3, Race 4 – you can track Derry~Londonderry~Doire as she diverts to Port Elizabeth:
More about the Clipper Race:
The twelve identical British registered 70 foot ocean racing yachts are carrying 240 international amateur crew, each under the command of a professional skipper, on the world’s longest ocean race; it is now 10,000 miles out of London on its 40,000 miles, 11 month marathon. The fleet left Cape Town on 4 November and is expected into Albany, Western Australia towards the end of the month. The unique event began in the UK on September 1 and ends back there in July next year.
Alan Straton
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At 6:00 am this morning Derry~Londonderry~Doire was 154 nautical miles from Port Elizabeth and traveling at 8.6 knots which will take her around 17 hours to reach PE.