25 knots of wind, why aren't we moving?

8:24 PM Fri 15 May 2009 GMT

'The sailing vessel Achelious (U.S. Coast Guard photo)' .

It's gotta be a bad hair day. We're only a mile from home, sailing nicely between the buoys, there's a good 25 knot wind blowing, the sails are full, so why are we staying in the same spot? Turn the engine on! Let's get some speed here! O damn, now the engine's failed. What the .... is going on?

BOSTON - A Coast Guard Jawhawk helicopter crew plucked three people from a 35-foot sailboat today after it got tangled in a fishing net, half of a mile from Lands End, in Newport, R.I.

A 41-foot rescue boat crew launched from Coast Guard Station Castle Hill, after a good Samaritan saw the Archelious and called the Coast Guard at about 9.am, but was unable to get close enough to rescue the trio.

The helicopter launched from Air Station Cape Cod and arrived on scene at 11:41 a.m.

The three people aboard the sailboat, two men ages 25 and 31, and a 16-year-old boy, were unable to lower the mast, which made it too dangerous for the helicopter to conduct a hoist from the boat's deck.

The three were instructed to put on survival suits, jump into the water, and swim away from the boat. A rescue swimmer helped them into the hoist basket and all three were safely taken aboard the helicopter.

On scene, the winds were 25-30 knots, with seas reaching seven feet.

They were taken to Station Castle Hill. No injuries were reported.

'The weather here can be unpredictable at times,' said Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Leuchte, an operations specialist at Sector Southeastern New England. 'They didn't have a radio onboard and it was lucky for them that someone saw them and phoned it in.'

by the Coastguard, with a little help

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25 knots of wind, why aren't we moving?

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