Injured Singlehander Calls Pub for Rescue

The story of British singlehander Alan Thompson’s mid-Atlantic rescue illustrates that there’s more than one way to call for help.

According to a story today in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, the 61-year-old fell and broke his pelvis while singlehanding his recently purchased 37-ft Hunter Legend Padolu from Florida to the UK. Unable to reach rescue resouces via radio, Thompson used his satellite phone to call a familiar number, his local pub in West Sussex. There, his friend Roger Pocock instituted a rescue effort by alerting the Falmouth Coastguard, who worked out a rescue plan with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Thompson was eventually rescued by U.S. Guardsmen, who got him safely aboard an oil tanker which had been diverted to the scene, 600 miles off Bermuda. The uninsured sloop was abandoned. "Sailing is his life," said Pocock, "It’s always been his passion. He’ll be very sad. This was his last big adventure."

Thompson’s story is further confirmation that every year sat phones play a larger roll in both coastal cruising and ocean passage-making as a primary rescue resource.