ARKONA

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Arkona rescued single hand sailor in challenging conditions

A single hand sailor was rescued from his sailing yacht on Aug 5, off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The exhausted man was flown to the hospital by helicopter. Ten nautical miles from Kühlungsborn, the sailor had sent a friend a cell phone message with his GPS position: He was exhausted and did not know where he was, and the engine had also failed. The friend then alerted the MRCC of the DGzRS at around 5 p.m. Both the new lifeboat from Grömitz, which has not yet been baptized and still operates under its internal name 'SK 41', and the voluntary rescue services from the Kühlungsborn station with the 'Konrad-Otto' were alerted. The sighting by a ferry confirmed the position of the damaged yacht. In the meantime the wind had increased to eight Beaufort with a swell of two meters. The "Arkona" was first on scene. Under challenging conditions, the crew managed to rescue the skipper of the yacht from his boat with the dinghy. The alerted Northern Rescue 02 helicopter from NHC Northern Helicopter arrived on site at that very moment and hoisted the exhausted and hypothermic man from the "Arkona" and flew him to the hospital. The eight-meter-long sailboat was floating abandoned in the sea when the boat from Kühlungsborn arrived on site. It represented an obstacle for shipping. Two sea rescuers managed to climb onto the boat despite the high swell, recover the sails and establish a towing connection to the 'Konrad Otto'. The 'SK 41' was in the meantime needed for another mission, so the “Arkona” accompanied the boat to Kühlungsborn and offered at least some protection from the waves. In front of the entrance to the port of Kühlungsborn, the tug "Baltic" offered support. The two sea rescuers on the yacht took over another tow line from the “Baltic” dinghy. The dinghy thus stabilized the yacht at the rear, and the vessel was brought through the surf with an onshore stormy wind into the narrow port of Kühlungsborn. The mission ended shortly before 8.30 p.m. Report with photo: https://www.seenotretter.de/aktuelles/seenotfaelle/ansicht/news/alleinsegler-vor-kuehlungsborn-von-yacht-gerettet/