Mahé - Un plaisancier français secouru aux Seychelles après le naufrage de son voilier
What happened.
On 11 October 2024, a French sailor single-handing about 160 nautical miles from Mahé in the Seychelles found a leak and had just time to launch his liferaft before his yacht sank. He passed an approximate position by satellite phone but had no precise GPS fix, so it took about eight hours — by then tired and thirsty — before a diving support vessel located and rescued him. He survived unhurt.
On Friday 11 October 2024, a French yachtsman was sailing alone in the Indian Ocean, roughly 160 nautical miles from Mahé in the Seychelles, when he discovered that his boat was taking on water. The leak won quickly: he had only just enough time to deploy his liferaft before the yacht sank beneath him. From the raft he used a satellite phone to alert the regional maritime rescue centre, CROSS, and to pass his position — but without a precise positioning system, the fix was only approximate, and that made him hard to find in a very large stretch of ocean. CROSS tasked the armed forces of the South Indian Ocean zone (FAZSOI), which diverted a CASA transport aircraft to search the area. It took about eight hours adrift, by which time the lone sailor was tired and thirsty, before he was finally located and picked up by a diving support vessel operating out of Desroches island. He was checked over by a doctor once ashore and then flown to Mahé by a Seychelles Defence Forces aircraft. He came through unharmed — saved by a liferaft he could deploy in time and a phone that could raise the alarm, but delayed for hours by the one thing he lacked: an exact position.
What it teaches.
- 1Being able to call is not the same as being findable. This sailor reached the rescue centre by satellite phone but, lacking a precise GPS fix, drifted about eight hours before he was found. Carry a registered EPIRB and a GPS-enabled PLB: they transmit your exact position automatically, turning an ocean-wide search into a direct run to your raft.
- 2Keep the liferaft and grab-bag ready to launch in seconds. He survived because the raft deployed in the little time he had before the yacht sank. Service the raft, stow it for instant launching, and pack the grab-bag with water, signalling gear and your beacon — he ended up thirsty after eight hours, so keep water in the raft.
- 3A leak offshore can sink a boat fast — diagnose early, but be ready to abandon. Know your skin fittings and hoses, carry bungs and a big pump, and check the bilge often. When water is clearly winning, don't leave it too late: getting the raft and beacon out while you still have time is what kept this sailor alive.
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