Volunteers rescue South Australian crew from reef

7:26 PM Tue 2 Mar 2010 GMT

'Wet and cold but unhurt - Skipper Peter Scragg. Photo by Yorke Peninsula Country Times' .

A Kangaroo Island radio operator was the first to pick up the distress call when South Australian boat Rampage hit a sandbank at Marion Reef of Edithburgh, while returning from Port Lincoln to Adelaide early on Saturday morning.

Three crew were on the boat when it got into difficulties in a storm and then made a navigational error in a receding tide. Rampage skipper Peter Scragg (pictured) blamed fatigue and an inaccurate weather forecast for the error.

Rampage, a 35ft yacht, which often races with the South Australian Yacht Squadron, was returning to Adelaide after taking part in the annual Adelaide to Port Lincoln yacht race.

Edithburgh Sea Rescue Squadron flotilla leader, Brian Klingberg, intercepted the call between the yacht and a Kangaroo Island radio operator at 8am Saturday, and immediately activated a rescue response.

Sea Rescue volunteers launched Sea Rescue 6 from Edithburgh and helicopter personnel were called in from West Beach.

Officer-in-charge Yorketown police, Sgt Mark Stuart, and Sea Rescue volunteer, Gerry de Jong, coordinated the rescue operation from the squadron's Edithburgh radio base.

The three crew, skipper Peter Scragg, Omar Kanj and John Simlesa - all from Adelaide - were winched to safety by the Rescue One helicopter and back on solid ground at Edithburgh just over two hours after the first radio call.

Although cold, wet and tired after spending an unpleasant night at sea, they did not sustain any injuries and were given a clean bill of health by SA Ambulance Service officers.

"We found ourselves in the middle of a storm and, had we known how rough it was going to get, we wouldn't have tried to sail on," Skipper Peter Scragg said, while thanking his rescuers.

Department of Transport Energy and Infrastructure personnel travelled to the stranded vessel on Sunday, lowering the sails and anchoring the yacht to stop it drifting. As the Country Times went to print, the yacht was on its side resting on a sandbank.

Nothing further will be done until the weather improves. It is not known if the yacht will be salvageable.

by Jenny Oldland, Yorke Peninsula CT/Sail-World

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Volunteers rescue South Australian crew from reef

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