Incidents in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Documented sailing emergencies in the North Atlantic Ocean — 4 records, each with sources, lessons, and links to the SeaWise procedures involved. Search by the water you're about to sail.
← Search & filter the full LogbookBetween 22 and 24 August 2026 the Portuguese Navy coordinated the rescue of two French sailors from their yacht about 484 nautical miles north-east of Sao Miguel in the Azores. The boat was drifting with serious mast damage and no steering. A Spanish fishing vessel took the pair off, and they were later transferred to a Greek tanker in good health. The yacht was left behind.
On 17 August 2026 a Brittany Ferries crew found the 13 m yacht Anaho 2 drifting and empty about 100 km west of the Ile d'Yeu, two days after her 71-year-old skipper had left Arzal alone for Cape Verde. No beacon had been triggered. Air searches found only her empty tender. She sank the next evening and the search was called off.
On 30 September 2026 a Norwegian sailor crossing alone from Bergen in a 9 m yacht found her taking on more and more water in strong southeasterly winds and heavy swell, about 14 nautical miles east of Whalsay, Shetland. Lerwick lifeboat took him off, uninjured, while a trawler gave shelter. The yacht was abandoned.
Around midnight on 21 August 2026 a French sailing catamaran on delivery from the Mediterranean to France ran onto the Praia Norte breakwater at Viana do Castelo, northern Portugal, and was destroyed. Her two crew got ashore by their own means, uninjured. The cause is under investigation.