Storm in Rapallo: Between hope and fear - Salvage of a Hallberg-Rassy 54

The extent of the devastation is devastating: on the night of 29 to 30 October 2018, a storm hits the Italian coast around Genoa. One of the hardest hit was the noble Marina Carlo Riva in Rapallo, where the majority of the 400 or so yachts moored were destroyed and many were hurled onto the shore. A good half of the ships sank in the harbour basin or were washed out of it and ran aground outside the harbour.

The Hallberg-Rassy of a couple from Switzerland also sinks that night. The next morning, owner Jules Graber receives a call from the marina informing him that his boat is no longer there. Bewilderment is followed by hope: perhaps it can still be saved if the salvage operation is carried out quickly enough.

The Grabers had only owned the ship, which was built in 2008, for two years. In a few years' time, when it was time to retire, they wanted to set off on extended cruises in the Mediterranean and beyond. It was fully equipped for long voyages and in perfect condition before it sank. "The ship was the crowning glory of my sailing career," says Jules Graber in an interview with YACHT.

But the salvage work continues without any news from Italy, and the Grabers' hopes are dwindling by the day. But they are still unwilling, indeed unable, to accept the idea of a new ship.

Then, in March 2019, the news finally arrives that the "Vagabonda" is now being lifted out of the harbour basin. The couple get ready for their journey to the Mediterranean.

You can read the story of the sinking of the Hallberg-Rassy 54 "Vagabonda", the hopes and fears of the owners and the salvage of the ship in the report in the new YACHT 9/2019, which is available in stores from today, as well as in the Delius Klasing Shop and here as a digital edition.