The 50' trimaran, Pir2 skippered by Etienne Hochedé took part in the Route de Rhum solo trans-Atlantic race in November 2018...
recently decided to head back to France across the Atlantic from Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadaloupe...
when disaster struck and and she capsized around 5pm just four miles south of Lands End - Tom McClure on the trawler Guardian who was less than a mile away at the time noticed that the mast appeared to be canted at an angle ...
and then disappear from view and on the AIS that the boat had a much reduced speed - while he steamed towards the yacht a Navy helicopter on exercise appeared and airlifted the skipper to Treliske where he was kept in for observation overnight before heading to Newlyn to find his boat now righted and alongside the quay...
as luck would have it, the mast and sails from the yacht had been removed by the salvage boat working on the replacement of fenders in the harbour...
which then turned its attention to the capsized hull ably supported by Jeremy on the Danmark...
and skipper Tom McClure on the trawler Guardian...
eventually the hull was righted...
and the yacht towed into Newlyn alongside...
the North pier...
where she was pumped out and the skipper helped in rescuing the contents of his cockpit and in making ready for repairs to the starboard sponson which was damaged in collision with a submerged though to be the cause of the capsize.
