RANGI REACHES PORT AFTER GRUELLING VOYAGE

Chronicle (Levin), 16 February 1948, Page 5

RANGI REACHES PORT AFTER GRUELLING VOYAGE

-rReuter*

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Receivqd 3«lfday, 7.Q p,m, SYDNEY, Feb, 15. Damaged hy a terrific battering received' iji the cyTiohe qP tv/Q week& Ago, the yacht Rapgi waa, tewed iete Kiam.A» 56 miles south oi Sydoey, lest night.

Tlie cre.w, -hungry and suffering from sunburn, toicl how the ltaugi had capsized at the lieig'ht of .the. storm. The Ran^i left Auckland 22 days ago, She was damaged in the cyclone 011 January 30. but is. still scaworthv and hopes to make Sydney later in the week tvhen tlre crew have l'ested. The owncr-skipper, Mark A11.thbny, said: "1 think we mu.st iiave been in the very centre of Ihe cyclone, The.wind. was blowing in gusts up to 100 miles an hour. The sea was boiling". Waves lepeatedly burst over" us. and at times it seemed we were sailing rhrough the sea instead of on it." Oue of the crew, Jack Keen,. was swcpt ovorboard but after swimming- in what he.termed "a boiling cauldron", he seramblcd back 011 board. The yacht was lealdng and half i'ull of water._ hor .thve.e days all the crew were bailing like madmen. (It is a miracle we are alive," said Mr. Anthony. "It was a hellish nightmare. When the cyclone hit us we hove to. We had a big sea anchor out and oil bags around us. AVe had the boom and gaff lashed to the scuppers, The vvind was howling like a miliion 1'uries. The waves were 111611sti'ous. You cannot imagine what they were like. The top of our inast is 35 feet from the deck and Ihe waves were three times as high again. Thoy swcpt down 011 us in a wdll of boiling' sea as steep as the side of a liouso. Luc-kily few of them broke over us. We ro.de th rough them like a^submarine. . "Then we hearcl a eross wave coming. Jt xvas a devilish wave and sounded like a train rushing through a tunneL Hanging on grimly and clenching our teeth, we waited for the monster aud then it broke1 over us with a crash like thunder roaring above the scream ing- wind. • We seemed to be upside- down' and the table hit' the top of th'e'cabiri, almost smashing through. "The little Hangi righted herself and- we saw with horror that Jack Keen had been washed overboard. By some 'unbelievable fortune he was able to keep himself afloat in that maelstrom and got baek 011 board." ; "Our batteries and generators were unservieeable because of their drenchi ng in salt water and we eould neither send nor receive by radio. We were all fighting for our lives aud were too b.usy to get seasiek but we all got sick of the sea. Our blankets were wet through and our fresh food was ruined but we had liuge stocks of tinned stuff aboard and this kept us going. We were lueky to be carrying spare sails. As soon as:

the hurricane hit us our headsaiis were ripped to pieces, "All of us are well- but none would lik'e the trip over again." Mr. Anthony said the crew had no' idea there was an air search out forMhepi ancl sighted 11 oue of tlie planes. The Hangi was within. a few miles of Byclney Iieads last Sunday night, he added. £ We have been becalmed every night sinee so that whatever headway we made dtiring the day we lost at night and could not get in. When the twaler iYoreen -came up today we just gave'- in. We liad had it." ' ,