Boats recovered from teams rescued in ocean race
A team of marine conservationists helped find two abandoned row boats following two high seas rescues in June from the Great Pacific Race.
A solo racer called it quits days after leaving the Monterey Bay in June and asked to be rescued from the 2,400 mile to Hawaii race. Additionally, a 4-man team had to be rescued.
An attempt to tow one of the vessels “Bojangles” back to land failed when the tow ropes snapped in heavy seas and the boat was left unmanned and drifting southwards.
Another vessel ‘Liv’ capsized several times and was drifting southwards on a similar course to the other one.
The retrieval attempt united a team of ocean conservationists from as far away as New Zealand, including Peggy West-Stap with Monterey Bay Marine Life Studies.
“Bojangles” is one of the strongest, most proven and sought-after ocean rowing boats in the world, made from a special carbon/Kevlar foam sandwich construction.
These are the second and third boats that have had to be abandoned in the Great Pacific Race.
A solo rower remains in the Great Pacific Race as well as two pairs and five four man crews.
Extreme rower Darryl Farmer from Great Britain was the solo rower rescued after he fell ill. Farmer was in rough seas with 8 to 10 foot swells, which made it tough for single rowers in the competition.
A spokesman said Farmer was about 350 miles off the coast of California when he called race managers and asked to be rescued due to illness.
Farmer’s team is called “Rowing for Reefs” and they’re rowing for Pete Andre’s cancer research foundation in the U-K.
As for the other team in the Great Pacific Race, the U-S Coast Guard had to rescue four rowers just 75 miles west of San Luis Obispo.
The coast guard in Alameda got the call on a Friday evening after the team’s row boat began taking on water. The coast guard says a safe boat for the race, was first on scene, but couldn’t complete the transfer of the rowers because of rough seas.
A chopper out of San Francisco and a rescue swimmer finally hoisted the rowers out of the water. All four rowers are reportedly in good condition.
The race is supposed to take up to three months to get the Hawaii. The 4-man team “Uniting Nations” was out in front and just over 1,600 miles from Hawaii in late June.
