Posted: May 06, 2009 10:30 am EST
(TheOceans.net/ThePoles.com) Two Brits, Raoul Surcouf and Richard Spink, planned a carbon neutral expedition across Greenland. Instead of flying to Greenland they set sail across the ocean in a sailboat from Plymouth to Nuuk. Eleven days out on sea they were caught in a “violent” storm. After temporarily capsizing three times they had to call for a rescue.

Onboard Fleur

Raoul and Richard were onboard the sailboat, Fleur, with skipper Ben Stoddart. They set sail on 19 April for Nuuk in Greenland.

During the first 10 days at sea the winds were not always in favour of Fleur. A few days before the storm the guys wrote on their website: “The wind is persisting in blowing in the wrong direction for us. At 6 am this morning the weather was fair and we were sailing along at 5 knots but by the evening is had worsened and we’re now only going 3 knots!”

“We’re still struggling to head in the right direction and it is extremely frustrating. We’re all starting to feel really down in the dumps about now and have crossed our fingers and toes for better weather tomorrow!”

The next day good winds blew, but only for one day. Then they were “back struggling against the north easterly winds.”

The storm

On 30 April the home team reported that the guys were “in the middle of a very violent storm, force 11 winds probably 10-14m swells, thankfully apart from being sick a lot they are ok.”

Two days later the team announced, “We regret to inform you that the CNE Greenland expedition 2009 has been abandoned due to repeated, irreparable storm damage to our sailing vessel Fleur; in the north Atlantic we experienced some of the harshest conditions known, over a period of 36 hours with winds gusting hurricane force 12.”

“At 1000hrs on 1st May 2009 the decision was made that the risk to our own personal safety was too great to continue and a rescue was coordinated with Falmouth coastguard.”

“The team are now safely and ironically aboard the oil tanker Overseas Yellowstone. The ship’s captain and crew are being fantastic hosts we are due to be in port in Portland Maine USA towards the end of next week. The CNE team would like to give heartfelt thanks to Falmouth and Irish Coastguards for their professionalism in the rescue operation.”

In the news

According to the guardian.co.uk the ordeal began on Friday morning, “Stoddart deployed the sea anchor but it was lost when a wave came over the stern, snapping the rope.”

“The first of the three knockdowns happened in the early hours, causing the failure of the navigation instruments and structural damage inside and out. Water was flooding into the boat as waves broke over it,” reported the news source.

“The crew alerted Falmouth coastguard at 5am, and at 9.30am the skipper suffered a blow to the head when the boat was flipped upside down. There was further damage to the boat's external structure, the main electricity generator was torn loose and both solar panels were destroyed.”

“After the third knockdown in seven hours, coastguards were asked to mount a rescue and the crew huddled together in the front cabin, which was least damaged by flooding, and awaited rescue, which came at 7.20 pm.”

Skipper in the sea

The Guardian said, “Even the rescue did not run smoothly. Spink was first off the Fleur, jumping across to a rope ladder dropped from the tanker, and he was followed by Surcouf.”

“Stoddart, who was last to leave, fell back into the sea and had to be hauled aboard manually by five men on the tanker deck. It is thought he may have broken some ribs in the fall.”

Biographies of the crew courtesy of the expedition website:

Raoul Surcouf, 40, a landscape gardener from Jersey, now living in West London. Having fought a lengthy battle with teenage cancer, Raoul won his Judo black belt at 19 and went on to compete at a national level in the UK and Europe. Spending most of his 20’s in rural and alpine France, Raoul is a keen climber, skier and snowboarder. In 2006, he was part of a successful team that slogged over 30 days of sea ice and the east coast of Ellesmere Island in northern Canada to reach the Geomagnetic North Pole. “CNE’s Greenland 2009 expedition will hopefully show how it is possible to explore some of the most beautiful places on earth without contributing to their destruction.”

Richard Spink, 31, a physiotherapist from Bristol, who has always had a passion for the outdoors. “It all started starting with being force fed a diet of youth hostels and long, long rainy walks as a child.” He is a former partner of a successful sports injury clinic in Bristol. He recently put this aside to work full time on Project CNE, such is his belief in the cause. He is never far from the hills, training for the next bike race, climbing or lying down knackered from all the training! He met Raoul during the Geomagnetic North Pole Expedition in 2006, where the idea for CNE was conceived. “I can’t wait to get back on the ice, but in the right way. All expeditions should be truly carbon neutral.”

Ben Stoddart, 43, will skipper the boat. He started sailing on dinghies at the age of four and grew up with sailing on larger boats with family holidays along the South coast of England and North coast of France. He sailed across the Atlantic in 2004 and made several single handed trips across the English Channel more recently to La Rochelle. “The expedition to Greenland will present its own challenges not only with the distances involved, and potential ice conditions, but also ensuring that the boat is equipped in as carbon neutral way possible”.

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