Accident on the Ems: Single-handed sailor goes overboard - and is able to swim ashore

It was supposed to be a nice day trip at the start of the season last Saturday on the Ems between Emden and Eemshaven in the Netherlands. But it almost turned into a trip from which skipper Jens Wilken never returned.

He goes overboard on the Osterems near the Dukegat off Eemshaven. And that's not all: Wilken is sailing alone. There is no one else on board the Etap 26 to help him back onto the boat.

The sailing plan for the day was simple, the wind fresh and the visibility clear. The skipper had left Emden early in the morning with the outgoing water in order to sail down the Ems with the tide and later head back towards his home harbour with the incoming water. But when he wanted to turn back, at the height of the fairway to the Osterems at buoy O48, the jib sheet became unclear and came loose from the sail.

Wilken, who is wearing a lifejacket with a crotch strap, picks himself up with the lifeline into the taut outhaul, switches on the tiller pilot and goes to the foredeck to reattach the sheet. The clew strikes, "then a gust came in and instead of letting go of the sail immediately, I held on to it. It pulled me overboard and I was in the water next to the boat," explains Jens Wilken in an interview with YACHT.

The lifeline still holds him to the boat, which continues on its way. The skipper tries to reach the bathing ladder at the stern, but loses contact with the boat - the worst case scenario, especially in tidal waters. Wilken, a devout Christian, prays and begins to calculate: The conditions are relatively favourable, the wind is from the north, the water is still rising for another five hours, and it's a good four nautical miles to the coast of Lower Saxony. He begins to swim, for two hours, then he actually feels ground under his feet and can go ashore near Rysum, a good twelve kilometres northwest of Emden.

YACHT spoke to Jens Wilken about the accident and the lessons learnt. In the interview, the 55-year-old engineer describes how he tried in vain to get back on board, how his boat was also rescued during a major search operation that had been launched in the meantime - and how his faith helped him during the hours in the water. The interview will appear in YACHT 13/2019, which goes on sale at the beginning of June.