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Displaying items by tag: IchorCoal

#ClipperRace - A British crewman on a yacht competing in the Clipper Round The World Race has died after an onboard accident days into the first leg.

Andrew Ashman (49) from Orpington in Kent was knocked unconscious by the mainsheet while reefing the main sail on the Plymouth-registered yachr CV21, racing as IchorCoal.

The yacht was sailing in moderate seas with a strong breeze building to Force 6 some 120 nautical miles off the Portuguese coast at the time of the accident, just after midnight in the early hours of this morning (Saturday 5 September).

Ashman, an experienced yachtman and paramedic, was given immediate medical assistance and attempted resuscitation but failed to regain consciousness.

Skipper Darren Ladd reports that the boat linked immediately by satellite phone to the race's remote medical team in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where a doctor provided additional advice and guidance during the emergency.

CV21 is now diverting to northern Portugal to a suitable marina in the Porto area, yet to be confirmed, and is expected to arrive in the early hours of tomorrow morning (Sunday 6 September).

“This is extremely sad news and my heart goes out to his bereaved family and friends, and to his fellow crew who have come to know Andrew with great affection during his training and the early days of this race," said Clipper Race founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnson on news of the tragedy.

"Safety is always our utmost priority, as our record shows, and we shall investigate the incident immediately in full cooperation with the authorities.”

The deceased was due to participate in the current race to Brazil, the Southern Ocean and USA coast-to-coast legs of the Clipper 2015-16 Race.

Published in Clipper Race

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.