4 British men were rescued from a disabled sailboat last night, 250 nautical miles off Halifax. The 4 were hoisted off the sailboat, and flown to Halifax. The 45′ boat was in 21′ seas, with a 50knot wind (75KM/h) and looks to have  a shredded Jib sail, and lost steering control.

The vessel is the Makena  and was bound for Toronto, via the Canary Islands with an apparently professional delivery crew aboard. The owner had recently purchased the boat.

I have been told that the crew were under prepared, and lacked survival suits. Certainly others have questioned the wisdom of being in a sailboat, in the North Atlantic, In December. If the plan was to make Toronto, they would have encountered ice in the St. Lawrence river, and the pending closure of the locks above Montreal at the end of the Month.

CCGS Cape Roger, HMCS Summerside, HMCS Glace Bay, A USCG Aircraft and a vessel of Opportunity all responded.

While sailing home from an overseas deployment, #HMCSGlaceBay & #HMCSSummerside assisted #JRCC, #RCAF CH-149 Cormorant, @CoastGuardCAN Ship Cape Roger, and @USCG aircraft in rescuing 4 people stranded on a sailboat, 240 miles south of NS. #BravoZulu #ReadytoHelp pic.twitter.com/Yqz1bg6gyn

— MARLANT (@RCN_MARLANT) December 18, 2018