Rescue Saga - British yacht sinks during rescue tow to Norway
by Sail-World.com on 10 Oct 2015
North Sea - Yachtsman vessel sinks NV Charts
An 82-year-old British veteran sailor who spent more than 18 hours adrift in the North Sea watched his yacht sink while on tow to safety in Norway.
Julian Mustoe, who spent almost a decade sailing his 25 foot yacht Harrier of the Down around the world, had refused to be airlifted to safety, after his vessel lost steerage and at one stage was withing half a miles driting towards a major North Sea oil drilling platform, as it meant abandoning his yacht.
He was rescue by a Norwegian Coastguard cutter on Wednesday after his craft lost steerrage halfway between Shetland and Bergen.
The rescue effort was prolonged because of bad weather but eventually Mustoe was taken aboard the coastguard boat with Harrier of Down, taken under tow.
Safely in Bergen Mustoe said: “All last night they towed Harrier behind the ship successfully.
“But for some reason, and I don’t understand how it happened, Harrier began to take on water earlier this morning (Thursday) and at about 9am she sank in over 1000 feet of water.
Mustoe's book Voyage Of The Harrier, details his circumnavigation of the world between 2001 and 2012, retracing Charles Darwin’s journey in HMS Beagle.
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