Mary Martin and Eric Irwin of Alliance tell the story of the rescue of their crew by Jim Coggeshall's Ceilidh after they abandon shipped half way to Bermuda during on June 23, 2024. = For more visit bermudarace.com
Mary and Eric, So glad to learn you and your crew are safe. Your outstanding preparation, training, calmness, and clear lines of authority and communication made all the difference. Looking forward to seeing you soon.
So so sorry to hear about the loss of Alliance. But really great to hear that the sailing community (as always) will go out of their way to help one another!
Well done Eric and Mary! Great job bringing everyone home - sorry to hear about Alliance but look forward to hearing about your future adventures as I’m sure you’ll return to sea.
Very, very impressive dialog provided by you both during this presentation. A reasonable conclusion is that the damage was irreparable and the loss of the boat was thus inevitable despite what sounds like optimal attempts at damage control. Then, the decisive actions to prepare both for a safe personnel transfer to the raft and for the rendezvous, involving many moving parts, indicate a clear and reliable chain of command. I recommend including this experience as part of safety at sea trainings and stress the importance of the pre-race/in-situ preparations and the critical roles players. A demonstration of true leadership and collaboration. Well done, and so glad you are all safe and and unhurt. A true success.
Glad they're OK, sounds like they did the right things, and anything can happen to any kind of boat. But it does surprise me that people take spade rudder boats offshore and seem continually surprised when a collision has grave consequences.
