Rig failure at sea.
Documented rig failure incidents from the Logbook — 5 records, each with sources, lessons, and the SeaWise procedures that address it.
← Search & filter the full LogbookRig failures rarely announce themselves — a shroud, a spreader or a fitting lets go under load, and suddenly the mast is unsupported on one tack. The accounts here show the crews who kept their spar did the quiet work first: tuned and inspected standing rigging, tacked or bore away to unload the failed side the moment something felt wrong, and knew how to jury-rig support before a partial failure became a full dismasting.
On 5-6 August 2026, a sailboat carrying five foreign nationals lost steerage off Serifos, Greece, after its sail tore. Greece's Coast Guard and a Syros fishing vessel escorted it safely into Livadi harbour; no one was hurt.
On 27 July 2026, a roughly 30-foot catamaran struck a piling near the Manatee Avenue Bridge in Bradenton, Florida, during strong wind, and its mast snapped. A rescue swimmer pulled both people aboard from the water; one suffered a head laceration and was taken to hospital.
On 29 July 2026, a 30-foot catamaran struck a piling near the Manatee Avenue Bridge in Manatee County, Florida, in strong winds from a fast-building thunderstorm, snapping its mast. Marine deputies, lifeguards, and fire crews rescued both occupants; one had a minor head injury.
Days after winning the 2026 Cape2Rio on handicap, the youth crew of Angel Wings was completely dismasted in a gale on the delivery home — over 25 knots of wind and 5-metre seas — and abandoned the yacht at 02:30 on 3 February 2026, about 1,448 km southeast of Rio. All three transferred unhurt to the freighter Bryant, and the South African Navy later landed them at Simon's Town. The yacht was lost.
On 4 January 2019, the yacht Kaerou was dismasted about 1,000 km from Réunion on passage between Australia and South Africa. The skipper alerted CROSS; a passing Cypriot bulk carrier, SAITA1, diverted and transferred about 300 litres of diesel and provisions some 343 nautical miles south of Réunion. The yacht motored on, and with SNSM help reached Réunion on 10 January — crew and boat both saved.