BRITISH SAILOR RESCUED OFF MOROCCAN COAST

4 January 2008

RESCUE Casablanca
04 Jan 2008 - 15:27
By Tom Palmer, PA

A young British sailor was today rescued off the coast of Casablanca after his boat suffered severe damage in storms.

James Baker was sailing from Portugal to the Caribbean when he was hit by extreme weather that left him stranded in his 1929 gaff rig cutter Mina.

The 22-year-old boat-builder, who has twice sailed the Atlantic before, was forced to stay with the damaged vessel after his dinghy was smashed by the waves.

He set off his Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) which alerted Falmouth Coastguard in Cornwall who co-ordinated the rescue operation and contacted the authorities in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

At 9.30am, an Orion aircraft from the Portuguese Navy found the yacht 74 miles west-north-west of Casablanca and directed the German commercial vessel the MV Wappen Von Bayern to recover Mr Baker.

Mr Baker's father Jeremy said he is extremely relieved his son is safe and well.

The 54-year-old, from south Devon, said they were contacted by the coastguard at around 1.30am saying the emergency beacon had been turned on.

"When we first got the phone call there is a moment of panic and then silence as you realise there is nothing that you can do," he said.

"We kept ringing every few hours to find out what was happening and were told James was picked up this morning. I've just spoken to him, he's extremely tired and he is upset that he has lost the boat."

Mr Baker said his son had been lovingly restoring the boat for the past two years and he had lived on board during that time.

He was heading to the Caribbean where he had been offered work.

"Mina has been his home, he has been living and working on it for the last two years," he said.

"He has lost everything, all his things, all his tools."

Mr Baker praised the work of the coastguard and thanked them for their efforts.

He said: "They were fantastic, you read about rescues in the news but you do not realise how far away they can co-ordinate a rescue and how efficient they can be."

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said Mr Baker is now being looked after by the crew of the MV Wappen Von Bayern and he will be dropped off in Gibraltar.

It is understood he will stay there for a few days in the hope of recovering the drifting Mina.

Falmouth Coastguard watch manager Mark Thomas said: "We are grateful to all involved in this incident for the successful rescue of this sailor.

"Once again this is another incident where the use of an EPIRB to call for help proves to be immensely valuable.

We would advise all sailors to have one."