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A sailing yacht lost its keel and capsized off the Canary Islands

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Not far from the Canary Islands the sailing yacht Comet 45S called Tyger of London capsized due to the loss of the keel. By a fluke it happened in front of the crew of the passing by Rustler 42 named St Barbara V, who managed to react quickly and all five members of the crew of the damaged boat were rescued.

The flagship of the Royal Cork Yacht Club's oldest fleet - St Barbara V - was following a set course as part of a training voyage when a Comet 45S sailing in the same direction suddenly and within seconds flipped over. The exposed hull showed the stunned yachtsmen the complete absence of a keel.

The St. Barbara V crew immediately started the engine and turned the boat in the direction of the capsized vessel. The rescue of the four men and one woman, thrown by the Tyger of London, took approximately 30 minutes due to the strong wind gusts of 6-7 and high waves.

The fact that the entire crew of the Comet 45S was equipped with life jackets played a major role in the successful rescue. This not only kept the survivors afloat the entire time, but also allowed the rescue team to locate the men, who were being swept further and further away from the capsized boat, in the choppy waters.

The shipwrecked people were hoisted aboard, treated, warmed up after a long stay in the freezing water and taken to the Las Galettas marina. The capsized boat was towed to the port of Ancantilhao de los Gigantes by rescue services and the Coast Guard. Now the boat will undergo a serious examination.

Shocked by what happened, the crew of Tyger of London cannot describe the events in detail and explain what happened, so unexpected and fast everything happened.

Employees of the Comar Yachts shipyard, which built the boat, told the editors itBoat.comThe owner of the shipyard will go to the Canary Islands to find out the reasons for the accident personally.

The Italian boatbuilder also stressed that in its history the company has produced over 5000 boats, but such an incident occurred for the first time.

«As for the Tyger of London keel, we only recently learned about the accident," replied Comar Yachts. - The boatyard owner spoke to the boat's previous skipper who had spent 3 years on board and is in contact with the skipper who was on the boat at the time of the accident. The first skipper assures us that the boat has performed very well at sea in all conditions without any problems and he has personal confidence in the boat. The skipper, who was on board at the time of the capsize, never understood what happened. The boat was used for chartering and they believe that the keel probably hit the rocks repeatedly during the 7-8 years of operation of the boat, but they do not know the exact information about this».

Fortunately this incident had a good outcome, unlike the tragic Cheeki Rafiki incident where, also due to the loss of the keel and the sudden capsize of the boat, all four crew members died.

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