At 0200, the 53-foot Catana catamaran Hanuman was 425 south west of Grand Canaria in the Canary Islands when she stuck an unidentified floating object (UFO). The collision spun the big cat around and sent a judder through the hulls that was violent enough to wake the off-watch crew. They were sailing in the ARC+ and bound for the Cape Verde Islands.
The skipper heard his on watch crew Kurt cry out, “We’ve hit something. Get up here.”
The off watch crew were soon on deck to assess the issue. They got the boat turned back down wind with the sails drawing and the autopilot steering and then went below to check the bilges in both hulls. They were dry, fortunately.
Still on deck, Kurt checked the engine compartments via the large deck hatches. The starboard side was dry but the port engine room had water sloshing around under the engine and the bilge pump was working hard but losing ground.
Steve jumped down into the compartment and soon discovered that the seacock for the raw water intake in the engine’s cooling system was gone and a steady spout of water was pouring in through a jagged hole.
