Holly is the editor of Dockwalk. She grew up racing sailboats in England before switching to the world of superyachts and moving across the pond to Fort Lauderdale.
Two crewmembers on board the 110-meter M/Y Le Grand Bleu have assisted in the rescue of an injured yachtsman who was competing in the UK's annual Round The Island Race.
The incident occurred on July 3rd during the 50 nautical mile race around the Isle of Wight. The skipper of a 29-foot Westerly Konsort sailing yacht suffered an injury approaching the last stretch of the race and the vessel issued a DSC Mayday alert, according to an RNLI report.
Bembridge RNLI’s Inshore Lifeboat, named Norman Harvey, was launched at 4:12 p.m. and a second all-weather lifeboat launched subsequently to assist. Le Grand Bleu was anchored off Bembridge on the easternmost point on the island at the time of the incident and was also able to send assistance to the yacht and the casualty.
The report read: "After a quiet day with no taskings, both boats had just completed being washed down and rehoused when the Norman Harvey was requested at 4:09 p.m. by UK Coastguard to assist a 29-foot Westerly Konsort sailing yacht located one nautical mile northeast of the station that had been competing in the race."
Two crewmembers from Le Grand Bleu arrived on the scene in one of the tenders and helped drop the yacht's sails.
The casualty and the yacht's two remaining crew were escorted into Bembridge Harbour where they were met by the local coastguard rescue team and an ambulance.
Le Grand Bleu is one largest explorer yachts in the world and one of the biggest boats to visit the United Kingdom's south coast. The superyacht features two helipads and carries both a 22-meter sailing yacht and a 20-meter Sunseeker on its aft deck.
The yacht, which runs a crew of 65, was built for U.S. telecommunications baron John McCaw and was previously owned by Roman Abramovich.