Two crew members on British yacht Alika, which was on the second leg of the 2022 ARC+ rally from the Cape Verde Islands to Grenada, were seriously hurt when their vessel lost steering in rough seas.

Published 2 years ago

Source:  World Cruising Club

Early in the morning of Monday 21 November, ARC+ Rally Control was notified of serious injuries to two crew on board the yacht Alika, sailing as part of the rally.

The yacht had experienced a sudden loss of steering which caused the vessel to move in an abrupt motion resulting in injuries to two crew members. A PAN PAN was issued via VHF and ARC+ yachts Alexandra and One Piece diverted course to stand by.

One crew member sustained a severe compound fracture to the ankle and a second crew member received a concussion. The yacht’s crew had sufficient medical supplies on board and were assisted with remote medical advice from ashore.

Following the PAN PAN call, MRCC Ponta Delgada was assigned control of the incident, conducting a medical assessment via TMAS Portsmouth of the patients and concluding evacuation of the crew members should take place.

The 73m motor yacht Planet Nine was contacted to assist, diverting course to rendezvous with Alika, where the injured crew were in a stable condition and receiving medication.

Too risky to evacuate sailors

By Monday evening, M/Y Planet Nine reached the vicinity of Alika, with the conditions on the scene of sustained winds of 25+ knots and a swell of 2-3m. The forecast for conditions in the area showed little immediate reduction in wind or swell and evacuation at that time was been deemed too risky.

Alika and M/Y Planet Nine continued to assess means of transferring the casualties and changed course for a northerly route towards Antigua, which was hoped to deliver more favourable conditions for the transfer.

ARC+ Rally Control kept in contact with agencies MRCC Ponta Delgada coordinating the situation, Weather Routing INC for forecast updates and MSOS providing medical consultation to the crews.

The ARC+ fleet is being appraised of the situation by fleet messages sent by email and the next of kin of the casualties on board Alika have been informed.

Diverting to Antigua

On November 26, the crew member with the severe ankle fracture was safely transferred to Planet Nine accompanied by two crew members. The second casualty remained onboard Alika and was improving while being monitored for concussion and head trauma. Alika was expected to arrive in Antigua  01 Dec 2022. All remaining crew on board were reported to be well.