SW-INC-0010SeaWise Incidents

David Cottle recovered after 70 minutes overboard

Washed overboard in gale-force conditions, recovered by a Liberian-registered tanker.

likely · 2 sourcesN1
Vessel
WayfarerSailing yacht
When
2006North Atlantic
Crew
1 aboardAll survived
Outcome
Rescued
Position
Bay of Biscay approaches
Sea area
Bay of Biscay
Coordinates
46.00°N, -6.00°WApproximate position
Summary

What happened.

David Cottle was washed overboard during gale-force conditions and recovered by a Liberian-registered tanker after 70 minutes in the water.

Lessons learned

What it teaches.

  • 1
    Survival overboard is a function of being seen and staying warm. A lifejacket with light, spray hood, and PLB turns 70 minutes from fatal into recoverable.
    man overboard
Sources

Where this comes from.

News· The TelegraphSailor plucked from sea after over an hour overboardVisit ↗
FirsthandCottle — 'Seventy minutes' (personal account)

SeaWise indexes and links to primary sources; it does not host their reports or media. Crew are referred to by role unless documented consent is on file.

From SeaWise

Procedures involved.

ProcedurePrimary

Man Overboard

Procedure

Emergency Communications

Explore

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Record IDSW-INC-0010
Curated bySeaWise editorial
Confidencelikely · 2 sources
Record typeIncident

About SeaWise records: We catalogue sailing emergencies with structured metadata and link to primary sources rather than republishing them. Individual crew names are anonymised by default— sources we link to may name them publicly; SeaWise refers to roles ("the skipper", "the crew") on our pages. Submitter identities are always private.