“You can’t park there!”
HIGH AND DRY: The end result of skipper Arthur Manning’s wrong turn in his yacht Knight Star in France yesterday. Picture: AFP
AS he began his daring overtaking manoeuvre, Arthur Manning wondered if he was sailing a little close to the wind.
In fact, he was too close to the rocks. His yacht, the Jersey-registered Knight Star, ended up grounded and then wobbling in mid-air on its 2m keel as the tide went out near Saint-Quay-Portrieux in northwest France yesterday.
Mr Manning, who was trying to speed ahead of 19 rivals in a Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club race, described it as “an embarrassing misjudgment”.
He and his crew abandoned ship and the French sea salvage service refloated the Knight Star at high tide.
The yacht escaped mostly intact – unlike Mr Manning’s pride.
A crew member from Le Galaté, a French vessel involved in the rescue, said: “We got the two Englishmen aboard and out of harm’s way, but could do nothing for the yacht as it rose higher and higher into the sky.”
Mr Manning said yesterday: “There was very little damage and we are now on our way back to Jersey.”
