A very sad news on the Clipper Round The Wolrd Yacht Race : the death of crew member Sarah Young (40), a company owner from London. Sarah was one of the crew aboard the IchorCoal boat (CV21). Next of kin have been informed and all our thoughts are now with Sarah’s family, teammates, and loved ones on and off the race.

Skipper Darren Ladd reports that Sarah was tidying the cockpit after reefing the mainsail in 35 – 40 knots of wind, when she was knocked from her position by a wave. She fell back toward the guard wire and was swept under it by another wave at 1127 UTC/​2227 local time. She was not tethered onto the yacht at this time and was swept away in strong winds.

The boat immediately applied its man overboard drill but was hampered by the conditions and lack of direct visual. Her body was recovered on board using her AIS signal at 1244 UTC/2344 local time, and although resuscitation was attempted and telephone assistance provided by the Praxes Medical Group Doctors, the Clipper Race’s remote telemedicine support service, she never regained consciousness.

The cause of death is yet to be confirmed but is suspected as drowning or exposure. All other crew are reported safe and well and the team are working with Race Officials to evaluate the options on diversion or continuing to Seattle.

The incident happened on day 12 of the ninth race in the 14-stage Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, at 39 North, 160 East, approaching the International Date Line. This current race takes crew across the Pacific Ocean from Qingdao, China, to Seattle, USA and has over 3,242 miles left to its destination.

Sarah was the owner of a personal lifestyle company providing services for private high net worth individuals. A keen adventurer, the Clipper Race had been an ambition of hers for some years, and she said celebrating her 40th birthday just before setting sail from London was the perfect way to start her adventure.

Prior to the Clipper Race she had done other expeditions including spending a year in Sabah, northern Borneo, working for Raleigh Malaysia. Sarah had also led teams in Zambia, Botswana and Namibia, had been mountaineering in Nepal and did a world-first 18 day trek down the Skeleton Coast unsupported. Sarah had also run a marathon and was a Divemaster. She leaves a partner but no children.

Sarah was one of the round the world crew and aside from missing a couple of races in Australia due to the passing of her Mother, she had sailed more than half the way round the world, with over 20,000 nautical miles of racing under her belt between London and China, where the yacht had departed on March 21.

A full investigation will now be carried out, as is standard practice, into the full details of the incident in cooperation with the appropriate authorities. Race Officials are now supporting the Skipper and the crew through this tragic ordeal.

Clipper Race Founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston stated: “On behalf of everyone at Clipper Ventures, I am deeply saddened by the loss of Sarah. She was a very popular and integral member of the Clipper Race family and knew our boats well, having sailed with us since London last summer. The safety of our crew has always been and continues to be our main priority and we shall investigate the incident immediately in full cooperation with the authorities.”

The Clipper Race was established almost 20 years ago and this is its tenth edition. This is the second fatality in the history of the race. Over 4,000 amateur crew have been trained and participated in previous races. 709 crew are participating in the 2015-16 edition which left London at the end of August, and will return there on 30 July 2016.

A sombre day accross the fleet

Speaking on the loss of Sarah Young, Wendy Tuck, Skipper of the Da Nang – Viet Nam team, said sailing across oceans is one of the earth’s last wild frontiers.

“Its times like these that we think of all our loved ones and realise how far away we are, and what a remote planet we still live on.

“We never tame or conquer an ocean, we just inhibit it for a while, and hope to have a safe passage. It is this wildness and the challenge to ourselves that makes us put on our foulies and set off, for what we hope is the adventure of a lifetime. Fate is an unkind bird sometimes, so we must live and love for now,” Wendo added.

GREAT Britain Skipper Peter Thornton wrote: “Extremely sad news about Sarah and we are all quite shocked and suddenly acutely aware of where and what we are in this world.

“I cannot imagine what IchorCoal and her family are going through right now so our thoughts are with all who knew and loved Sarah.”

Across the fleet, the conditions have been very testing over the last 24 hours, with high winds, a nasty sea state and very cold temperatures.

Derry~Londonderry~Doire is the new race leader, 19.39 nautical miles ahead of former race leader Unicef, now in second, with ClipperTelemed+ in third.

Dan Smith, Skipper of Derry~Londonderry~Doire, said: “The sailing has been very hard over the last 24 hours with wind shifts and squalls through the night which the crew dealt with well. During the morning watch change after helping them wrestle the Yankee 1 to the deck I had the sad job of telling them about the tragic news on board IchorCoal that I had just heard about.

“Our team were devastated and our thoughts go out to Sarah’s family, friends, crew on board IchorCoal, Darren the skipper and the rest of the Clipper Race team. We wish the yacht fair winds to Seattle, we will see you there.

“Mother Nature continued to throw distractions at us which have failed to take our mind off the news, but I am sure that our stories are similar to the 11 other Clipper 70 yachts which have probably experienced the same 50 knot winds with 60 knot gusts and who struggle onwards to Seattle.”

Photo Credit : onEdition

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