The crew of the 25-metre Oyster 82 sailing yacht Raven rescued a solo transatlantic rower who became adrift in the Atlantic after her rowing boat malfunctioned.
The Oyster sailing yacht was en route to Antigua to take part in the bi-annual Oyster World Rally – a fully supported, 16-month circumnavigation of the world – when, at 7.00pm on 27 December, the crew received an unexpected call from the yacht's owner. Philippe Goossens, Raven's owner, was in Cape Town, South Africa, when he received a phone call about a distress signal from a 7.7-metre boat of the same name.
The crew on board sailing yacht Raven – comprising two permanent crew members and three delivery crew – had not received the distress signal, which was sent at 3.41pm on 27 December, due to cruising over 70 nautical miles away from the alert.
Despite the increasing distance, the Oyster yacht remained the closest vessel to the signal. Delays to the yacht's departure due to refit works had left the crew on a tight schedule to reach the Caribbean, and there were also concerns about the yacht's fuel reserves, though Goossens and his crew quickly decided to turn back to respond to the call and reach the distressed boat by daylight.
At 10.00am on 28 December, the crew arrived at the location of the signal to discover Rebecca Ferry, a solo, 47-year-old female rower from the United Kingdom who had been undertaking a transatlantic challenge to row 4,911km from Gran Canaria, Spain to Barbados. Her rowing boat, also named Raven, had lost all steering capabilities, and damaged solar panels meant that Ferry's batteries had been unable to charge.
With what power remained, Ferry was able to radio from the rowing boat to the crew on board Raven as they grew closer, before they safely helped her aboard. She had been adrift for two days before the sailing yacht reached her.
Speaking to BOAT International, chief stewardess on board Raven, Michelle Christie, recounted the "emotional" moment of the rescue. "[Ferry] got us on the radio, and finally, we were so close to her. She could see our mast on the horizon, but we couldn't see her... It was a very emotional moment, and thankfully, she was okay. We did have choppy waters, but it was a very smooth manoeuvre."
Raven's captain, Julien Orus, orchestrated the rescue, tying the rowing boat (nicknamed Baby Raven by the crew) alongside the sailing yacht before walking it around to the stern for easier towing. "It was a pretty intense moment," Christie recalled. The crew then redirected 300 nautical miles to Mindelo in Cape Verde, a move which lost the Oyster two days at sea, to return Ferry safely to land in time to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Ferry was at sea for two weeks before sending the distress signal on 27 December. Online reports from ExplorersWeb detailed that she had already encountered challenges with her rowing boat, including problems with the autopilot, before the serious defects arose. Goossens is currently arranging for the rowing boat to be transported back to the UK and has also refused the usual mandatory fuel reimbursement for completing a sea rescue.
Despite a somewhat traumatic meeting, the rescued rower will be returning to the 25-metre sailing yacht in February to assist Goossens and his crew with their Pacific crossing. She will step on board at the Panama Canal, the first stop in the Oyster World Rally.
Goossens told BOAT International: "It's a really nice story, which in the beginning was a bit nasty, but then it turned out all really well. Ferry was saved, her boat is saved, and she will join us for a month or five weeks or so on board our boat."
According to Goosens, it will be Raven's first time taking part in the Oyster World Rally, which is set to begin on 18 January and will see 30 Oyster vessels travel 27,000 nautical miles around the world in 16 months. The circumnavigation includes stop-offs at 27 locations, including the Galápagos, Southern Indonesia, Cape Town and Grenada.
Oyster Yachts owner, chairman of the Oyster World Rally and owner of the 27-metre Oyster 885 sailing yacht Lush, Richard Hadida, will share the crew's full account of the rescue story live from Antigua. The featurette will be coming soon to Lush's Instagram, @sailing.lush.
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