Golden Globe boat still afloat

Golden

There are few better demonstrations of a well-built boat’s seaworthiness than to abandon it. Vessels abandoned by their crews have continued to float for months or even years later, sometimes fetching up on a beach somewhere. A recent example of this is Irish Golden Globe Race competitor Gregor McGuckin’s Biscay 36 ketch Hanley Energy Endurance. McGuckin abandoned his boat after it was rolled and dismasted during the 2018-2019 Golden Globe Race. Hanley Energy Endurance is still afloat in the Indian Ocean and, according to a report by the Irish sailing website afloat.ie, McGuckin is looking at ways to recover the vessel.
 
McGuckin was awarded the Cruising Club of America’s Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy this year for his efforts to rescue fellow Golden Globe racer Indian sailor Abhilash Tomy in the Southern Ocean. Both Tomy and McGuckin were rolled and dismasted by a hurricane-force storm. Tomy, however, was badly injured by his vessel’s dismasting. McGuckin built a jury-rig and sailed more than 60 miles toward Tomy to render assistance. Ultimately, a French fisheries patrol vessel, FPV Osiris, reached Tomy first and took him aboard. McGuckin was rescued by the Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat.
 
In addition to recovering the boat, it seems there’s an additional benefit to bringing Hanley Energy Endurance into port: a barrel of 7-year-old Glendalough single-malt Irish whiskey that McGuckin had aboard his vessel.

By Ocean Navigator