Jubilee Sailing Trust tall ship Tenacious rescued seven crew from rudderless and drifting French yacht Zouk in heavy seas last weekend before scuttling her.
Tenacious(pictured left) was headed for Antigua on a transatlantic voyage when she received the other ship's distress call on Saturday. At around 1530hrs GMT, the ship made contact with 43-ft Sun Odyssey Zouk, who had been drifting for over six days. Two of the crew transferred to the French yacht via RIB, helping her crew to rig a towing bridle and transferring three of the crew toTenacious, leaving the skipper and three crew onboard.
With no rudder to steer through the swell, the towing line was put under huge strain, and snapped on Sunday morning, leaving Zouk drifting once more.
Despite repeated attempts to tow the vessel, conditions were such that the decision was made to abandon the yacht, sinking it to prevent it from becoming a hazard to other shipping. The remaining four crew transferred to Tenacious, the largest wooden tall ship of her kind in the world, and are proceeding to Antigua safely under sail.
Jubilee Sailing Trust tall ship Tenacious rescued seven crew from rudderless and drifting French yacht Zouk in heavy seas last weekend before scuttling her.
