Whale theory over stricken vessel

A couple on a global yacht trip spoke of their relief at being rescued when their boat sank in the Caribbean, after hitting what may have been a whale.

Helen and Paul Glavin, from Weymouth, were between the British Virgin Islands and St Kitts when the incident occured.

At 0220 BST on 2 April their £150,000 Sovereign 470 yacht Helen Mary Gee hit an unidentified object in the water.

Mrs Glavin said when they made their accident report, the coastguard said it might have been a whale the yacht hit.

The Glavins, who were rescued by a passing yacht, said: "It may have been a whale that hit us or a container."

The Helen Mary Gee is named after Mrs Glavin, who said: "At the time there was never a question we would not make it.

"You cannot think like that in that situation or you will panic and things will go wrong.

"We were very fortunate, it certainly was not our time to go."

Mrs Glavin suffered rib injuries from being thrown against the wheel and her 59-year-old husband, who had been asleep in the cockpit, was flung to the floor and hit his face.

They activated an emergency position indicating radio beacon from their lifeboat which alerted the French and American coastguards and another yacht changed course to pick them up.

Mrs Glavin said the coastguard had told them there had been lots of whales in the area at the time.

"It did take a while to get over it [the experience] - you do think 'what if' but we are alright now."

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