Rescue launched in stormy mid-Atlantic for vessels in sailing race

A rescue mission was launched Friday in the mid-Atlantic after vessels involved in a sailing race ran into trouble amid high seas and hurricane-force winds.

Joint Task Force Atlantic in Halifax said it was responding to distress calls from three vessels involved in thetransatlanticrace between the U.K. and Rhode Island.

Lt. Len Hickey of the Royal Canadian Navy said emergency beacons from the boats went off shortly after midnight.One of the sailboats lost its mastand the other two suffered damageto their hulls and rigging.

None of the vessels was longer than 15 metres, said Hickey.

No Canadians on boats

One of the boats hadtwo sailors on board, while the other two each hadone sailor. Hickey said the nationalities of the sailors were not being released at this time, but thatnonewasCanadian.

They wereapproximately 1,600 kilometres east of Newfoundland as of mid-afternoon Friday.

Weather conditions for the area werereported as stormy with hurricane-force winds between 90and 130km/hand seas of 10 to 15 metres.

"Conditions in the area remain fairly difficult," said Hickey.

Neil Payter, Maria Wilkinson's partner, is in the race, but not on one of the stricken boats. He set off from the U.K. about May 29 for the 28-day journey.

Wilkinson has been in touch with him by text. "He's fine. He's more up north than the other guys. He was getting 40 knots. He's been battered for about 12 hours," she told CBC News in a phone call from England.

He deployed a sea anchor to slow his boat as it crossed "great big, high seas," she said. He hasn't been able to check his vessel for damage, but it is sailing and he's not hurt.

"The next bit is to try and miss that next low that's coming in and obviously the icebergs," she said.

Payter is a yacht master instructor and has done smaller races in the past."He's always wanted to do this race, but God it's horrific what's happened today."

He expects to finish the race.

Nor'easter-like winds

CBCmeteorologistKalinMitchell said satelliteimages showsomeof the winds near the sailboats are"on par with some of our strongest winter nor'easters."

TheRoyal Canadian Air Force dispatched multiple aircraft to the scene, including a CC-130 Hercules and a CP-140 Aurora from 14 WingGreenwood in Nova Scotia.

HMCS Charlottetown was also heading to the area, along with the Canadian Coast Guard vessels Pearkes and Cygnus and two civilian tankers. Hickey said the ships wereexpected to be on scene around noonSaturday.

Winds will ease Saturday

Mitchell saidthe winds and waves will begin to ease asthe stormmovesnortheast. By Saturday morning at 8 a.m., he said, the area where the boats are will have winds between 40 and 60 km/h, with waves between 3 metres and six metres tall.

The vessels were participating in the Royal Western Yacht Club's original single-handed and two-handed transatlantic races between the port city of Plymouth in southwest England and Newport,R.I.

The races have been a tradition for decades. The first single-handed race was in 1960 and the event now happens every four years.

'Man against the sea'

Halifax sailor Mark MacNeil'sfriendChristianChalandreof France is one of the participants in this year's race.

"Everyone who gets involved knows that this is the kind of weather they have to be prepared to face," he said.

Chalandreiscompetingin a 10.3-metre or 34-foot boat that's 46years old, racingin a class where the vessels are a similar size.

"He has lots of experience as most of them do and he has a good strong old boat, so in fact, he should be doing quite well, I would think," MacNeil said.

MacNeil, who has sailed solo across theAtlantic, saidboats competing in large racesare "very well equipped" with satellite phones and gear to communicate with the shore and with each other.

"It's still one man against the sea and they'd be pretty lonely," he said.