We’ve seen it movies — mariners stranded on an uninhabited island signaling their plight and being rescued. This week the scenario was real when three mariners were rescued from a tiny, uninhabited island in Micronesia after laying out palm fronds on the beach to spell “HELP.” On April 6, a relative notified the USCG that her three uncles had failed to return home after departing Poluwat Atoll on March 31 aboard a 20-ft outboard-powered open skiff.

The experienced mariners, all in their 40s, had been heading for Pikelot Atoll, approximately 100 miles northwest of Poluwat. They were in familiar waters but had sustained damage to their skiff and outboard, becoming stranded on the small island covering less than 2000 square feet. On April 7, a US Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft identified the stranded men and confirmed their presence and condition. The aircraft crew successfully dropped survival packages to sustain the mariners until further assistance could arrive.

On April 8, a US Coast Guard Hercules aircraft from Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, flew over the area and dropped a radio to establish communication. The mariners confirmed they were in good health, had access to food and water, and had recovered their damaged skiff. The next morning, they were picked up by the USCG’s 154-ft Fast Response Cutter Oliver Henry. The men and their equipment were taken aboard and returned to their home port, Poluwat Atoll.

The rescue operation was a coordination of US Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam and the US Navy. USCG Lt. Chelsea Garcia, the search and rescue mission coordinator on the day the mariners were located, said spelling out “HELP” on the beach with the palm fronds was a crucial factor in their discovery. “This act of ingenuity was pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location,” Lt. Garcia said. “This successful operation underscores the effective coordination and partnership between the US Coast Guard, the US Navy, and regional partners. We extend our gratitude to everyone involved.”

The USCG concluded their report with the recommendation that “all mariners equip their vessels with an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) to enhance safety on the water. A growing number of maritime communities offer loaner programs for these devices, making it easier for everyone to access this critical safety tool.”

We wrote about a similar rescue in 2020 when mariners were rescued from an uninhabited beach in Micronesia after writing SOS on the beach. You can read that story here: SOS

The post Mariners Rescued From Uninhabited Island After Writing “HELP” With Palm Fronds appeared first on Latitude38.

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The 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race fleet is finishing the penultimate leg which extended 6500 nm from Auckland, New Zealand to Punta del Este, Uruguay. The 73-foot Pen Duick VI (FRA), skippered by Marie Tabarly, was the elapsed time winner when they finished on February 13, while it was the Swan 53 Triana (FRA) with skipper Jean d’Arthuys which claimed overall honors.

As one of the smallest yachts in the fleet, Trina’s finish on February 17 after 34 days and six hours took the coveted first in IRC and fifth in line honors.

“It’s incredible, one year ago I was allowed to enter the race after registration had closed and I was the last entrant,” said d’Arthuys. “Back then I couldn’t imagine this. The first goal was to be on the start line and I never dreamed of winning the Cape Horn leg. It’s the Sayula story all over again, winning against the big fish. But I have an amazing crew. Just amazing. They are perfect.”

The overall standings have been shuffled when race leader Translated 9 retired from Leg 3 after being forced to divert to the Falkland Islands due to cracks in the hull of the Swan 65. The team is hopeful they can make repairs and start the final leg from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Southhampton, UK on March 5.

Event information – Race rules – Entry list – Tracker

No longer racing:
• Swan 51 Godspeed (USA) – retired after Leg 1

The 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race (OGR) is a fully crewed, retro race, in the spirit of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race, marking the 50th Anniversary of the original event. Racing without computers, GPS, and high-tech materials, they navigate with sextants and paper charts. Seven of the fleet are former Whitbread competitors.

Starting in Southampton (UK) on September 10, the OGR is a 27,000-mile sprint around the Globe, divided into four legs that passes south of the three great Capes. The fleet is divided in three classes with stop-overs in Cape Town, South Africa; Auckland, New Zealand; and Punta del Este, Uruguay before returning to Southhampton in April 2024.

2023-24 Ocean Globe Race:
FIRST LEG: Start 10 September 2023. 7800 miles. First boats finish 9-21 October 2023.
SECOND LEG: Start 5 November 2023. 7250 miles. First boats finish 14-23 December 2023.
THIRD LEG: Start 14 January 2024. 6500 miles. First boats finish 9-14 February 2024.
FOURTH LEG: Start 5 March. 6550 miles. Finish 1-10 April 2024.

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© 2024 Matt Arno

We’ve been reaching out to sailors signed up for this year’s Pacific Cup to learn a little more about who they are, and why they signed up for the race. Matt Arno from Fort Worth, Texas, shared a little about his sailing life and his plan for his first Pac Cup race.

Matt has owned the J/105 Blue Flash for 15 years, mostly focused on one-design racing. Before that he crewed on a variety of smaller J/boats, and has been adding offshore racing to the schedule, one step at a time.

“We started out doing the Harvest Moon Regatta (150 miles Galveston to Port Aransas), which we’ve done several times,” Matt told us, “then did the Chicago-Mackinac race (330 miles) twice, then two years ago the Newport Bermuda (600 miles there and then 600 back).

“The next step is Pac Cup. It’s been on my bucket list for quite some time and represents the biggest race I’ll be able to do on my own boat. Going to do Sydney Hobart or Fastnet will have to be as crew for someone else.”

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It is curious how the 11-foot foiling Moth continues to draw 100+ boats to its World Championships. For certain, it is a groundbreaking Class which attracts the stars of the sport. But as a development class in which new boats are well north of $20k, and new designs continue to be better than old, might the fun not be fun after a while?

That has happened in North America as interest turns to the more manageable WASZP Class. Launched in 2016, this strict one-design foiler was created to mimic the Moth without all the pricey and high maintenance features. While marginally slower, one could squint their eyes and it’s all the same at half the cost for a boat that works today and tomorrow.

The WASZP Class also chose not to apply to be a World Sailing Class, which comes with loads of expense and regulation for the right to have a WASZP World Championship. Rather, the Class hosts its annual WASZP Games, and without the World Sailing restrictions, can provide various formats to annually determine the best WASZP sailor in the World…

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What is it about us humans (especially men) that makes us so competitive? The days of fighting to win partners, food, and territory ended eons ago. We are no longer on the survival-of-the-fittest treadmill. Yet still the urge to prove ourselves stronger, smarter or more skillful drives many of us to the edge of reasonable behavior. Even in such a rules-based sporting environment as sailing this motivation to dominate seems unstoppable.

Everyone likes to win on the water, but at what cost? To my mind, it is simplistic to view this problem only from the perspective of dollars spent on boats, sails, and rigs. Vast amounts were expended a century ago on America’s Cup campaigns equivalent to today’s obscene budgets for the same event. The crucial difference is that back then, at the more modest levels of club and national competitions, the prevailing ethic was Corinthian. It was assumed that a true ‘sporting’ contest where the only prizes were trophies was between amateurs.

Today, professionalism in sailing is so widespread that it is accepted in classes and regattas previously considered to be the natural preserves of those who competed for love, not money.  The effect of this goes well beyond the impact of ‘hired gun’ rock star skippers and crew. Professionalism in sailing has become a whatever-it-takes attitude that purports to justify hyper-aggressive tactics and rule-bending.

Consider just one example. There seems little doubt that the J/70 has become the world’s most popular new sports keelboat class. They are terrific, affordable little craft and, as befits a good one-design, offer consistently close racing. That principle is reflected in the very first words of the current Class Rules of the International J/70 Class Association:

“The J/70 Class has been created as a strict one-design class wherein the true test while racing is between crews and not boats and equipment. The fundamental objective of these Class Rules is to ensure that this concept is maintained.” 

A fine sentiment, and one with which we might hope that any decent sailor would agree. But here’s the reality: the major J/70 championships are now divided into ‘Open’ and ‘Corinthian’ divisions. (i.e. professional and amateur). There is even a ‘One Pro’ sub-classification, presumably for owners on limited budgets who don’t think they can sail well enough to compete with the hot-shots.

Jump in the thread to discuss

– anarchist David

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Marie Tabarly at the helm of Pen Duick VI OGR 2023 Flyer Class Entry. Pen Duick VI FR (14) was first in McIntyre Ocean Globe Fleet to round the infamous Cape Horn at 04:51 UTC February 6th, in ‘perfect’ Southern Ocean winds. Photo Credit: Martin Keruzoré

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