NEWS AND NOTES
Blue Water Sailing
May 11, 2010
Family Rescued From Yacht After Hitting Iceberg
Carl Lomas and Tracey Worth,'Lord and lady Hollinsclough',
on board the Hollinsclough Oyster
A family's round-the-world yacht voyage almost ended in disaster after they hit an iceberg in the South Atlantic and were rescued by a warship. Carl Lomas and his wife Tracey Worth - who call themselves Lord and Lady Hollinsclough - have sailed 16,000 miles around the globe but ran into trouble on Friday evening, 300 miles north-east of South Georgia after they hit a low-lying iceberg, known as a ''growler''.
Falmouth Coastguard helped the Falkland Islands authorities locate the vessel – named Yacht Hollinsclough – which had taken on water and suffered engine failure.
The family (with daughters, Caitland, 13, and Morgause, 11 onboard during school holidays) who have been cruising for about five years, began a 1,000-mile journey to the Falklands after the British warship HMS Clyde picked them up. They are expected to arrive there by the middle of next week, the Coastguard estimated.
The yacht apparently struck a low-lying iceberg 300 miles north-east of South Georgia in the south Atlantic. For the next 20 hours the couple and their daughters bailed water out of the stricken vessel as the Royal Navy warship, HMS Clyde, raced against time to save them. Had they remained in the water for two hours longer, the yacht would have all but disappeared under the waves.
HMS Clyde's rescue boat reaches the Hollinsclough family on their
stricken yacht in the Atlantic. Photograph: MoD/Crown/guardian.co.uk
They had left South Georgia on April 29 and were heading towards Cape Town when disaster struck late on Thursday night. Mr Lomas, who was on watch when they hit the iceberg, told the Mail: "There was just this terrible, terrible noise. It was pitch black and absolutely terrifying. We put out a distress call by satellite to Falmouth
Coastguard and soon we got an email back. 'By then we were in the gravest possible danger. We had suffered damage to the hull and the rudder and for the rest of the night, as we started to bail out the water, the yacht made the most terrible groaning noise."
Prospects of saving the yacht – a 60ft Oyster Cutter Sloop – which has been the couple's effective home in recent years, are understood to be poor. The Coastguard expects the yacht will sink. From: dailymail.co.uk. Photo: 'Carl Lomas and Tracey Worth,'Lord and lady Hollinsclough', on board the Hollinsclough Oyster.'
'The HMS Clyde's rescue of the Hollinsclough family from their stricken yacht the Hollinsclough, an 18m Oyster yacht yesterday.'
