OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 2.00pm.
SIX crew members aboard the South African yacht La Bamba are reported to be safe, but exhausted, after their 40-foot boat sank in the South Atlantic while taking part in the Cape to Rio yacht race.
The crew were rescued by a fellow competitor early on Thursday morning.
La Bamba was about 426 nautical miles west of the South African coast when it issued a distress call about 12:30pm on Wednesday, saying it was taking on water through a front hatch.
The crew managed to fix the leak, but a second leak was found below the waterline on Wednesday evening. The leak could not be repaired, and the skipper sent out another distress call.
Island Fling, a multihull vessel, made a two-and-a-half hour detour to come to the stricken yacht’s rescue.
The yachts made visual contact with each other early on Thursday, but bad weather and heavy swells caused Island Fling to wait until daylight to take La Bamba’s crew on board.
La Bamba sank shortly afterwards at 5:02am.
Island Fling now plans to sail 300 nautical miles to Port Nolloth about 500km north of Cape Town to drop off La Bamba’s crew before continuing with the race. It is expected to arrive there at midday on Friday.
Race organizers said Island Fling will be compensated for the time they have lost.