Cinderella to the rescue
Congratulations to the great seamanship of Gerald Smith and his crew on the Jongert 20DS Cinderella di Sanremo, who rescued the crew of the Leopard 45 catamaran Karolina Viking when it started sinking on Monday.
Johan and Hana Skold's catamaran began taking on water late on Sunday leading to a Mayday call at 03:00 UTC on Monday morning.
Karolina's crew beleived they could change course to make landfall in Cape Verde, 300NM upwind and initially made good progress under the port engine. Cinderella di Sanremo and ARC catamaran Arkula diverted to rendezvous, with Cinderella in position providing support in the morning.
The leak was coming from the area of the rudder stock base in the starboard engine compartment, causing water ingress into other parts of the hull. Despite using their high capacity pumps, the leak became worse, eventually overwhelming the electrical and communications systems. The Skolds had to make the difficult decision to abandon their boat.
In heavy seas, a transfer from Karolina Viking to Cinderella di Sanremo was a dangerous prospect, but Gerald Smith's yacht is well equipped with 300 feet of heavy duty floating line that could be used to tow the liferaft. After a practice run, Cinderella approached from downwind and Karolina's crew entered their raft, securing the floating line. They were hauled over to Cinderella di Sanremo and clambered aboard.
For many boats, an additional five crew would be a daunting prospect, but Cinderella di Sanremo is 22.5m long and a hefty 63 tons - a welcoming temporary home for the remaining miles to Saint Lucia.
Karolina Viking is being salvaged and will be towed by a tug to Cape Verde.
 | |  |
| Cinderella di Sanremo leaving Las Palmas | | Karolina Viking at the start |