off Christmas Island - A solo sailor's catamaran swamps in the Indian Ocean; his brother raises the alarm when he misses check-ins, and a Navy helicopter lifts him from his tender
the Canadian's catamaran took on water in severe weather. AMSA's aircraft found him by radar and dropped a liferaft and a beacon; a Seahawk from HMAS Supply winched him aboard.
What happened.
On 6 September 2026 a Canadian sailing solo from Darwin to Christmas Island was rescued after his catamaran took on water in severe weather. His brother raised the alarm when he missed two check-ins. An AMSA aircraft found the boat by radar and dropped a liferaft and beacon, and a Navy helicopter winched him from his tender, unhurt.
A Canadian man sailing alone from Darwin to Christmas Island ran into severe weather over the weekend of 5-6 September 2026, and his catamaran began taking on water. He missed two scheduled check-ins, and his brother in Canada called the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. AMSA's Perth-based Challenger jet located the boat by radar, found it partly submerged, and dropped a liferaft, a communications kit and an emergency beacon, which he switched on so he could be tracked. He sheltered in the catamaran's tender while HMAS Supply, about 100 nautical miles away, closed in. On the Sunday, about eight hours after the alert, an MH-60R Seahawk from the ship winched him aboard in good condition, and Supply turned for Darwin. The catamaran was left where she lay. Reports disagree on where it happened: roughly 1,000 km south-east of Christmas Island in some, 1,000 km north-west of Broome in others. None mentions an EPIRB of his own. AMSA's spokesperson highlighted the part played by a trusted person ashore who knew when to raise the alarm.
What it teaches.
- 1
- 2Carry your own registered EPIRB and PLB, and a grab bag in reach. Rescuers found this sailor by radar and had to air-drop a beacon; your own would have alerted them hours earlier.
- 3A swamped multihull often stays afloat. Stay with it, or with its tender, unless you are forced off -- a hull is far easier to find than a person.
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