MAYDAY in the Med - Le Maillon rescued by the SNSM on Tuesday April 17 - by Hugues Destremau
As incredible as it may seem, the famous yacht owned by a very well known and respected family of Toulon France, was reported in trouble off the Cap Sicié (south of France) on Tuesday.
Sailing in a strong Mistral (force 6/7 and a 15/18 foot sea according to the rescue team report) , Le Maillon's rudder apparently snapped without warning leaving his crew of four in a life threatening situation.
It is unclear whether the boat was sailing upwind or downwind when the incident occured, but it is certain that crew struggled to regain control of the ship and had to battle for hours to keep Le Maillon afloat and stable.
In these trechearous conditions, the SNSM power boat came to the rescue after Pierre Arnaud Destremau, skipper onboard "Le Maillon", used his cell phone to call for help. It is reported that rescue team thought of a fake as this name is so famous for never calling for help nomatter what the nature of the problem he got himself (and sometime his family) into.
The young man had to prove his identity prior to being listen to, and it is reported that he had just enough time to tell his location in latitude and longitude before his cell phone ran out of battery.
Rescue boat rushed to the scene and found Le Maillon drifting 3,5 nautical due South of Cap Sicié, while the crew was apparently starting to suffer from exhaustion.
They managed to pass on a towline after a couple of missed tries, and towed Le Maillon to safety to the relief of all.
It is yet unknown why the allegedly competent crew decided to sail in this difficult weather towards the "cape Horn" of the Med and its famous turbulent winds along with high swell.
Authorities are also said to be questionning the ability of the crew to handle such a special sailing craft.
The reason why the rudder broke remains unclear at this point, testemonies will certainly help to figure this out as all equipment of this very unique yacht is custom made, and cannot be broken by average sailors cruising along.
Reporters of Destopnews revealed that the yacht underwent a complete refit this past winter, during which all pieces of equipment including rig and rudder were thorough roughly checked and painted with expensive paint.
The blade allegedly made of a very rare essence of wood, will be difficult to replace. But it is known that technical staff is already gathering somewhere near the boat to assess the situation and eventually come up with a solution.
It is also said that a huge family event will be held in the vicinity as of today Thursday, to discuss the incident, but nothing has been confirmed to our reporters just yet.
Meanwhile, Le Maillon is out of duty, and it is certain that crew will remember the incident for a while as it is the first time ever that "le Maillon" could not go back home without help.
Crew will also remember for a while the rather tough comments they received from the owner as they finally stepped on dry land….
By Hugues Destremau
"Rescue mission underway with the SNSM towing Le Maillon with a standingby Warship
Le Maillon safely back at her birth!
