Basia dismasted - all safe aboard

At approximately 0840 UTC this morning World ARC yacht Basia, crewed by the Neumann family - Michael, Basia and their adult daughter Anna - was in collision with a large merchant vessel off the coast north of Brazil. Although shaken by the incident, all three were almost physically unharmed although the 44ft catamaran lost its rigging when the mast was pulled down. There was also a puncture to one of the hulls and the boat was taking on water. The skipper, Michael, issued a MADAY distress on his radio, as flooding and sinking were a possibility.

The approaching merchant vessel had been seen at 12 miles away but did not respond to radio communications. At 6 miles apart, Michael took action to avoid a collision but at 1.5 miles the vessel changed its course which cancelled Michael's actions, and return the two boats to a collision course. Basia’s mast hit the topside of the merchant vessel’s bow and was pulled down.

The MADAY was first received by World ARC yacht Eowyn, which was nearby. However, the transmission was weak because Basia no longer had use of the fixed radio antennae which was mounted at the top of the mast. Eowyn’s skipper, Graham Payne, flicked on his single side band (SSB) radio to the Rally frequency and was able to get in touch with Michael to offer assistance. Eowyn was two hours sailing away from Basia and altered course to meet with them.

The MAYDAY RELAY was received by World ARC Rally control and passed on to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Brazil. Meanwhile Eowyn made a rendez-vous with Basia and they dealt with the damage and discussed the options. It appeared that Basia should try to make landfall under engine alone and so careful thought would need to be given to the fuel available.

Fortunately, the incident happened prior to the morning radio net schedule on the SSB radio and so Graham was able to brief the World ARC fleet on Basia’s situation and appeal for donations of diesel fuel to increase their motoring range. Fortunately there were several Rally yachts in the area which were able to give Basia an extra 250 litres of fuel. She will also receive a further amount from two other Rally boats who have altered course to converge on her track.

So following the incident, MRCC (Brazil) has been stood down and Basia is motoring towards the Caribbean in the company of several other World ARC yachts. The place and time of arrival will depend on their progress and fuel consumption over the next few days. MRCC Brazil have been provided with information on the other vessel which was involved.