Yachtsman braves pirate waters
- Thu, 17 Mar 2011
- Comments (3)
A round-the-world rally skipper, who abandoned his organised cruise which had ground to a halt because of the Somali pirate threat, has made his own way into the Red Sea.
John Smedley-Wild, and his partner Gillian Fairbrother, risked sailing their 13m catamaran, Spirit of Nina, through the dangerous waters off Oman and through the Gulf of Aden. They successfully entered the Red Sea and are now heading for the Med.
They left behind the Blue Water Rally boats in Oman, where the other crews are trying to organise ship transportation for their yachts.
Blue Water Rallies, which organised eight successful round the world rallies and 14 Yachting Monthly Biscay Triangle events, will cease trading at the end of April.
Your Vote
Was the skipper of Spirit of Nina irresponsible to sail his catamaran through the Gulf of Aden?
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Yes (59%)
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No (41%)
Have your say!
Latest comments
March 18 16:58
Tim Thornton
Totally irresponsible. The forces in the area have more than enough on their plates protecting shipping, and at any one time there are about 500 merchant seamen held hostage there. They don't have the choice about the route to follow, but this person did, so I assume that if he was attacked, he would not rely on the forces to help him out.
March 21 10:00
Rick
Some times we have to take risks. You dont know all the circumastances. I believe that the route was wrong in the first place (which I told the organisers) . It is not a question of forcese protecting merchant vessels - it is a question of getiing rid of the prates.Any small sailing vessel is vulnerable anywhere to being attackedd by sea. They cant outrun anything so - avoid the Caribbean? African Med coasts ? All of Africa? Far East ? So Solent OK apart from being run down.
March 29 13:52
christine harper
we had to make the decision in 2001 and made passage from the oman up the red sea and yes there were pirates about then. So we went ahead in a responsible fashiion taking every precaution. The couple did well to continue and the organisers should have stood by their committment allowing those who did not want to complete the rally to pull out but giving support to those who wished to continue - even if it was only verbal.