Yacht Setantii Abandoned - crew evacuated

The crew of the yacht Setantii, a 2004 Sweden 42 en route to Horta, Azores were successfully evacuated this morning (28 May 2010), following a collision with a submerged object 600 nautical miles west of the Azores.

Setantii, which was taking part in the ARC Europe transatlantic rally to Europe, called a MayDay after the collision severely damaged their steering, pushed the rudder up into the hull and caused water ingress. Falmouth MRCC received the MayDay, and in cooperation with MRCC Ponta Delgada (Azores) diverted the bulk carrier MV Esmeralda, to assist. The ARC Europe yacht Gilly of London also altered course to assist the stricken yacht.

At approximately 0730UTC the four man crew of Setantii were successfully evacuated to the MV Esmeralda, which has now resumed course towards the United Kingdom. The yacht has been abandoned and is sinking. Weather conditions at the time of the incident were SW 20 knots, gusting 25 knots with 3 to 4m seas.

Jeremy Wyatt of event organisers World Cruising Club commented “We are relieved that the crew of Setantii are all now safe, and would like to pass our thanks on to MRCC Falmouth and Ponta Delgada for their swift response.”