Sunbury man rescued from stricken yacht

Jan 18 2010 By Tamara Hughes

Sean Coote from Sunbury was aboard a 68-foot ocean racing yacht, which struck a submerged reef in Indoesia

A BANKER from Sunbury is recovering after his boat was stranded in the Java Sea during a ten month around the world yacht race.

The Cork, Ireland, a 68-foot ocean racing yacht, rammed onto a submerged reef in Indoesia last Wednesday (January 13) forcing the team to evacuate.

On board was banker Sean Coote from Sunbury-on-Thames, when the mighty vessel became stuck at around 8:30pm local time. He and 15 team members evacuated the floundering yacht by life boat and sailed to nearby island Gosong Mampango.

Mr Coote, 47, said: “After our evacuation it was unreal to look back and see Cork on her side with waves breaking over the port beam. Our life raft was picked up after approximately half an hour by the California crew who were immediately on hand with biscuits and hot tea.

“We are grateful to have escaped with no major injuries and proud to have rallied together as a team and survived a harrowing ordeal and test of our resilience.”

The Irish team were picked up by Team California and Team Finland shortly after the collision and Falmouth Coastguard was alerted.

Falmouth constantly monitored the situation working alongside local agencies. The Irish team were taken to Singapore to await the other yachts that arrived there on Saturday.

Seven yachts are currently taking part in the 35,000-mile race that began in Humberside in September and will finish back there in July.
However the future of the Irish team in the competition is now uncertain.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Chairman of race organisers Clipper-Ventures said, “Clearly our priority has been the safety of the crew and we have received confirmation that all on-board have evacuated the boat and are now safe. Their welfare is our prime concern at this time.”

Race organisers have stated that at this stage, it is too early to consider what impact the incident will have on the Irish entry and whether the team will be able to continue in the 10-month-long 35,000 mile race around the world.