Class 40 abandoned

Solidaire du Chocolat crew get into difficulties following mid-Atlantic knock-down

Following their 10th place finish in the Solidaire du Chocolat, last weekend while on their delivery back to France, the crew of Eric Nigon's Class 40 AXA Atour Coeur Pour Aides, got into difficulty mid-Atlantic and had to be rescued.

At 20:45 GMT on Saturday night the French crew on the JPK 40 issued a Mayday after their boat had been capsized in gale force conditions and 5m seas 600 miles northeast of Bermuda. The result was carnage - a broken mast, damaged rudder and damage to the hull causing her to take on water.

Following the incident the three crew on board had donned survival suits and activated their EPIRB, the US Coastguard successfully establishing contact with the crew three hours later via satellite phone. The US Coast Guard in Portsmouth, Virginia scrambled a HC-130J Hercules aircraft from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and diverted the Norwegian-owned 140m long cargo ship Wellington Star to the scene. Despite sizable conditions the three French crew was successfully transferred on board the Wellington Star at 04:37 GMT on Sunday morning, abandoning their boat.