Wind: SW 6-7; Man overboard German yacht Carissima

The 36 foot long yacht with 6 crew on board struck tradegy in rough seas a little after noon off Langness Point.

They had left Holland on 29 May to sail round the British Isles. After leaving Scotland they had arrived in Belfast and then sailed for Douglas on Tuesday. It was decided to go to Port St Mary after a gale warning had been received when they were three miles off Dreswick Point, Langness. They reduce the sails to a minimum and the three crew on deck followed instructions to clip on lifelines to the the safety rails.

As they ran through the tide race off Langeness, the boat was hit by a very large wave from behind throwing all three into the sea as the yacht was knocked down flat. The skipper and one of the crew managed to drag themselves back on board with the aid of the lifelines, however the third crew member started to drift off. Some damage was done to the yacht with the VHF radio antenna on the yachts mast being broken off. The cabin was found to have six inches of water in it. A Mayday message was broadcast without success. A mobile phone was found and the Coastguard were called. Twelve flares were also found and set off.

These flares were seen by the Russian Cruise liner Maxim Gorki, which was proceeding to a scheduled arrival at Douglas. The cruise liner contacted Liverpool Coastguard stating that they had spotted red flares close to Langness Point. At the same time the yacht crew were in touch with Belfast Coastguard by mobile phone via a 999 call.

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY Press Notice No : 048/98 9 June 1998

Liverpool Coastguard have found (1450hrs) a man missing overboard since approx 1233hrs today. The search began when the man fell overboard, 2 miles off the Isle of Man coast, between Port St Mary and Langness Point.

The 999 distress call was relayed to Belfast Coastguard at 1233hrs today, who immediately transfered it to Liverpool Coastguard as lead co-ordinators. The man, from Germany, is believed to have fallen overboard some 30 minutes earlier. The Seacat Denmark had issued the original Mayday relay on behalf of the yacht.

Liverpool Coastguard immediately launched Port St Mary's RNLI allweather lifeboat to the scene, together with Rescue helicopter R122 from RAF Valley and two Coastguard rescue teams from the Isle of Man. The Douglas RNLI allweather lifeboat also joined the search. The Seacat Denmark assisted with the search [plus the cruise ship Maxim Gorry and also an army Lynx helicopter].

It is understood the man was wearing a lifejacket and green oilskins. The yacht, the CARISSIMA, has not been able to obtain communications with Liverpool Coastguard, although the Coastguard Rescue Teams have sight of it from the Isle of Man.

Weather conditions are descibed as Southwesterly force 6, a rough sea but with good visibility.

Don McDonald, Deputy District Controller at Liverpool Coastguard said: "We are delighted to have found the man who is being taken to Nobles Hospital in Isle of Man. He was found by Port St Mary's lifeboat [at 2.40 pm ] and had been in the water for nearly three hours.

We sent several units to the scene and searched an area some 32 miles square. We broadcast messages to shipping in the area warning them to keep an eye out, although had to turn down offers of assistance from passing yachts because of the adverse weather conditions.

Weather conditions on scene were such that search units were hampered by the wave motion close to the shore"

Ends

Unfortunately, the yachtsman recovered by Port St Mary Lifeboat was deeply hypothermic and although attempts were made to resuciate him on the lifeboat, also by paramedics on the rescue helicopter which took him immediately to hospital and also at the hospital, he failed to survive the ordeal.

The yacht Carissima had taken alot of water and the electric bilge pump was damaged, so the crew started to pump out by hand. They sailed themselves to Douglas. Just after arriving in Douglas they got the message to say their colleague had been recovered from the water but was very ill. It wasn't until much later they were told the bad news.

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Last edited: 07 August 2000