This story is copied from 'The Conversation' this morning.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE In a remarkable tale of survival that speaks to the indelible strength of the human spirit, a man has been rescued from a capsized sailing boat after surviving for 16 hours in an air bubble. The Frenchman departed on his summery trip aboard his 12-metre boat from Lisbon in Portugal on Sunday, but ran into major trouble as he sailed near the Sisargas Islands north-west of Spain. The 62-year-old sent out a distress signal on Monday at 8.30pm, and began his long wait. On dry land, his signal was heard loud and clear - a rescue ship with five divers quickly set sail, while overhead three helicopters powered through the skies to work out his exact location. But one helicopter pilot's heart sank when he spotted it far below: an upturned boat, the white underside facing the sky, bobbing nonchalantly in the endless sea.

Nevertheless, a diver dutifully approached the hull, though it wasn't easy in the rough sea conditions. That's when the diver heard an incredible sound: knocking. Someone was in there. Someone alive. But the weather was too wild and woolly for the rescue mission that night, so they told the man to sit tight, attached buoyancy balloons to keep him afloat and promised to return first light. When the divers went in early on Tuesday, they found the man encased in a neoprene survival suit in the boat's air bubble, with water only up to his knees despite being below the ocean's surface. But he was anything but frail, jumping into the icy water "of his own initiative", one rescuer said, swimming down and then breaking the surface nearby. They took him to hospital but the medical staff said he was perfectly healthy. He was discharged shortly afterwards.

Wishing you a little strength and resilience this morning too.

Reminds me of Tony Bullimore s rescue .

another keel failure?

another keel failure?

Oh, Came on Cmmd , how can you jump to such a conclusion.?
They will need to thoughtfully investigate the wreak to know for sure.
Should take a group of technical experts 6 months or so an cost $?????

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62413556

Eek.
That looks like a Class 40, transom hung rudders, wide beam, sloped sail drive.
The whole bloody French population seem to be good offshore and tough as nails, even the older gen. I had a retired ex-jumbo pilot take me for a sail in his Pogo 30 in the Bay of Biscay, it was pretty blowy and being only doublehanded I was starting to think about suggesting a reef. He puts a kite up instead (solo too, he wouldn't let me help him)
An couple in their 70's came out one day on the 12.50 when we were commissioning. We go to hoist the mainsail and the little old lady promptly jumps up to the mast and starts heaving away on the halyard as well as any of us. Turns out they own a previous gen' class 40 they had doubled handed for over 10,000's of miles. They were looking at the 12.50 only because their boat had less bow volume and was 'very green on the decks'

Shaggy-is that a swing keel we can see poking up under the ropes?

Stern tube and prop

Select to expand quote

Yara said..
Shaggy-is that a swing keel we can see poking up under the ropes?

Hi Yara,
I don't think any of the Class 40's had a swing keel, I think that's the saildrive, The 12.50 only has the head recessed, the lower half is pretty big/thick so you'd have to sacrifice your companionway and a lot of cabin to fully recess it.






Edit: Yep, should call it a stern tube not a saildrive, sorry.