Sailing Column: The Scottish Series gets under way at Tarbert this weekend without one Irish entry following a dramatic incident approaching the North Channel, off Co Down, on Wednesday afternoon.
The annual season racing spectacular attracts the best yachts from around the Irish Sea region and is a key performance indicator for the season ahead.
Philip Watson and his two crew, Brian McDowell and Roger Cagney, on the Hanse 37-foot Megawatt were sailing north in near-gale conditions and planning to stop in Portpatrick before their final stage to Lough Fyne.
Although enjoying a fast passage in the southerly conditions, a sudden broach resulted in their rudder breaking off and the yacht began rapidly taking on water.
Belfast Coastguard responded to a Mayday message on VHF and two RNLI lifeboats and a helicopter was dispatched. A cruise ship also diverted to the scene. With the yacht flooding quickly, the life-raft was prepared but failed to inflate.
Fortunately for the Howth crew, John Roberts on his Jeanneau 54 Quite Correct had passed Megawatt half an hour previously and heard the Mayday call.
"I immediately put the helm over and turned back into very rough seas," said skipper Brian Mathews, who was steering at the time. "We were back alongside within 30 minutes and her decks were already awash."
With no steerage, the yacht was swinging wildly in the rough seas so the rescuers waited until the boat was fully swamped to come alongside, enabling the three crew to step directly on board a dinghy and then on to Quite Correct, to crewmen John "Hammer" Veale and Tom Mulligan.
Minutes later, Megawatt sank in 66 metres of water.
Provided with hot showers and food, the rescue services were stood down as Roberts' yacht headed for Bangor, Co Down to drop off the casualties.
Nobody was injured in the incident and later that night, Watson and his crew arrived back in Howth by train.
"Before we had the mainsail down, I could see them (Quite Correct) coming back to us," a relieved Watson said. "We couldn't ask for a better boat or crew to come to our aid. John treated us like royalty - we were even given smoked salmon, first-class travel to Bangor!"
Watson and his crew are among Ireland's most experienced offshore sailors and the skipper is a former director of a life-raft servicing company. "I was dismayed when the life raft didn't inflate. This was a five-year-old raft that was serviced in January after we had a knock-down in a 73-knot gust."
Megawatt had recently completed two trans-atlantic crossings and had close to 15,000 sailing miles completed. Watson is also the Irish agent for Hanse Yachts and company representatives are already in Ireland to investigate the cause of the failure and whether a design-modification is required by the German builder.
Meanwhile, entries are arriving steadily ahead of the deadline for discount entry fees for the inaugural Dún Laoghaire Regatta Championship in six-weeks' time. Close to 200 boats are already entered including some of the best known boats from Ireland and the Irish Sea region.
While Anthony O'Leary's Antix, winner of the Scottish Series 2004, Colm Barrington's Flying Glove and Eamon Crosbie's Voodoo Chile are certain to top the favourites list, next week sees the launch in Cowes of Eamonn Conneelly's Patches, Europe's first new-generation Transpac 52 footer that will have British Olympic medallists Ian Walker and Shirley Robertson leading the after-guard. With hopes riding high for this western flagship, a season of exciting racing lies ahead.
