It is with considerable sadness I report that at 5am this morning NZ time (1600 GMT) the crew of Team Sun Latte was taken off their boat by the support yacht Aurora. Both Iain Rudkin and Tara Remington were rescued after the combination of a leaking boat and capsize forced the decision to abandon ship. Both rowers were shaken but avoided major injury.
Neil Macintyre of Sun Latte milk, the major sponsor behind the challenge said that after their exceptional effort its very sad for Tara and Iain to have to accept their challenge to row the Atlantic is over. We understand the conditions in this race have been extremely difficult where they have had to row through three severe storms and survive a serious shark attack. To now suffer boat damage caused from the constant battering and finally a capsize, is very tough. These guys have been very courageous and highly focused on a positive outcome, thank god theyre safe. He said that while they have reportedly lost everything, including personal effects and clothes, the important thing was that they are safe. What great people to have supported and what an exceptional effort they have put in.
The events unfolded over a 24 hour period. On Saturday the crew discovered the hull of the boat had been compromised. A leak was found on one of the chines (external edge or join) under the water line near the stern of the boat and a quarter of the cabin had filled with water. Assistance was sought from the support yacht Aurora. At that time the skipper of Aurora, Lyn Parker, indicated they would not be in their location for another 12-18 hours.
While waiting for help to arrive Iain and Tara weighed up all their options. It was not known why the hull had sprung a leak. The chines of the boat are reinforced with fiberglass tape for extra strength. The shark attack with its head butting maneuvers combined with big seas in recent times may have weakened the hull at that point. They felt reasonably confidant that they could continue and manually pump the water for the rest of the race but they didnt feel so positive if the big seas continued unabated. The concern was that water in the cabin of the boat may have compromised the boats self righting capabilities.
They didnt have to wait too much longer to find out. At approximately 1am NZ time this morning the boat capsized. The crew had little warning, one minute they were bailing water out of the cabin the next they were upside-down. It was quite a surreal experience going round and round in one of these boats, said Iain. Fortunately the boat did right itself but in the process Tara received a head injury that would later require an, as yet unknown, number of stitches.
Using the Tech Rentals phone they rang the support ship Aurora and asked if they should set off their EPIRB. The advice was to hold off as they were only a few miles away from their position.
Details are sketchy but at some point the life raft was deployed and the crew abandoned ship possibly in view of Aurora. From there Iain and Tara were plucked from the life raft. In the process a rope got caught around the yachts propeller. In the rough seas and with another emergency unfolding over 100 miles to the east where an EPIRB alarm was picked up the decision was made to cast the good boat Team Sun Latte adrift.
Normally the boat would have been scuttled. The plan is to do this in a week or so once things settled down. In the interim there is an opportunity to salvage the boat. We are hoping to coordinate a boat rescue mission over the next 24 hours. Its a bit of a long shot but we will give it a crack and hopefully we can retrieve it along with personal belongings such as photos, video and diary of the crew.
Iain and Tara will remain on Aurora until it ports in Antigua. It is hoped they will be back in New Zealand in the second week of February.