Late yesterday evening, shortly before 11pm, Bremen Rescue Radio received the "Mayday" call from the 15-metre yacht "Sharki". According to the DGzRS a crew member reported that he was on the ship with six fellow sailors and that it was sinking very quickly. The reported position was several nautical miles off Cuxhaven.
A rescue cruiser and a coastal patrol boat from the water police immediately rushed to the scene of the accident. At the same time, the neighbouring shipping was asked for assistance. The captain of a Belgian freighter sighted the sinking yacht. Its crew had to take refuge in the life raft shortly afterwards.
The freighter remained in the vicinity of the casualties until the sea rescuers arrived. They were finally rescued unharmed by the rescue cruiser at around 11.30 pm.
The castaways - four men and three women - had been travelling from the Kiel Canal to Helgoland on the "Sharki", home port Szczecin/Poland. According to their own statements, their yacht had presumably collided with a fairway buoy about five nautical miles west of Cuxhaven.
The "Sharki" is the former "Rubin" of Hans-Otto Schümann, the long-serving president of the German Sailing Association who died in 2014. He and his crew were involved in the German team's victory in the legendary Admiral's Cup with the ship in 1973.
Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT
