Dramatic sea-air rescue after boat sinks during race to Vietnam
Crew members aboard Walawala 2 have lucky escape after rival boat and Hong Kong Government Flying Services come to their aid
Ten crew members aboard a boat taking part in the Audi Hong Kong to Vietnam race had to be rescued in a dramatic operation involving a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft after their vessel started taking on water early on Friday morning.
Walawala 2, one of 17 boats taking part in the 673-nautical mile dash from Hong Kong to Nha Trang, lost its rudder 130 miles into the race, forcing skipper Steven Manning to fire off a distress call to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club that his boat was in trouble and he would have to abandon ship.
The boat, a Sydney GTS 43, sank minutes after the crew boarded a life raft.
“It was a dangerous situation as we had to abandon ship and the sea was rough with winds blowing at about 25 knots,” Manning said. “There were a number of occasions when the crew was in danger, one of them was when we had to get onto the life raft and then it was very dangerous getting from the life raft onto Krampus [the rescue boat].”
RHKYC sailing manager Alex Johnston received the SOS call from Manning, 54, on a satellite phone at 1.35am on Friday saying the boat was taking in water rapidly after losing its rudder.
A rescue plan was activated with the Hong Kong Government Flying Services deploying a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft. Organisers also directed Krampus, the closest yacht in the race, to the sinking Walawala 2’s position where they picked up all the crew from their life raft.
