Textbook MOB Recovery
In the closing stages of Leg 2 in the double-handed Global Ocean Race (GOR), a harsh lesson was learnt on Class40 Cessna Citation through quick thinking; instinct and training when Conrad Colman and Sam Goodchild dealt quickly with a Man Over Board (MOB) off the west coast of South Island, New Zealand. Now that both skippers have discussed the MOB with their families and Maritime New Zealand and the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand are aware of the incident, the GOR can now publish details of the MOB as a valuable illustration of the importance of training and safety at sea for all offshore crews, short-handed or fully-crewed.
Colman and Goodchild had been leading the GOR fleet for 20 days as they crossed the Tasman Sea and closed in on the northern tip of South Island with under 160 miles remaining to the finish line in Wellington after a total of 31 days at sea and 7,500 miles of high latitude sailing through the Indian Ocean's Roaring Forties. Remarkably, 28 year-old Kiwi, Colman, and his 22 year-old, British co-skipper had met just days before the Leg 2 start gun and while both had logged many miles offshore and on Class40s, their union for Leg 2 produced astonishing speeds - setting the GOR Class40 24-hour run at a new record of 359.1 miles - gaining the respect of the other, seasoned crews in the fleet and repelling continuous challenges from the highly-experienced, Kiwi father-and-son duo of Ross and Campbell Field on Class40 BSL.
More information here.
