Hi Don,

A Freedom 40 with the same name had to abandon their voyage to Ireland, and return to Newfoundland after suffering some damage in heavy weather 1/3 of the way across...

This one is a Pearson 36, the only reference I can find to her is an Abaco regatta report from SOUTHWINDS back in '07, her owner at that time was a gentleman named Bill Powell...

This is a strange one, alright... Appears she was actually abandoned, as there's no sign of a tender, and with davits on the transom, a roll-up inflatable stowed below deck seems unlikely. No visible sign of a life raft cradle, either - and she obviously was not abandoned while under sail... A singlehander going overboard while motoring could be plausible, if not for the apparent absence of her tender... weird...

Perhaps another rescue/abandonment that we just never heard about? They seem to be occurring so often these days, not hard to imagine that one might have slipped under the coconut telegraph radar...

best regards,

Jon