Wow, she was dismasted and abandoned 200 miles off Hatteras today...

Needless to say, not a good place to be, nor a good time of the year to be there...

I'm guessing this one might be worth attempting to salvage, no? Will be interesting to follow, for sure..

Posted by Peter Johnstone over on SA:

Posted Today, 05:34 PM

Please say a prayer for RAINMAKER’s crew.

RAINMAKER was dismasted today 36 hours into her passage out of the Gunboat yard about 200 miles SE of Hattaras. From the very brief and patchy sat phone call, and various brief texts, the following is all we have been told:

*Everyone is accounted for aboard, including the owner, his son, and three professional crew.
*The rig was promptly cut away.
*The boat was not holed.
*At the last update there were no injuries.

Conditions are evidently quite severe. It is not uncommon for the cold NW winds to accelerate over the Gulf Stream to windspeeds well above what may show on grib files. They have a large South swell, and are faced with deteriorating conditions with a building NW breeze in the Gulf Stream. Waves and swells have been observed from onboard to be getting worse over the course of the day.

An onboard decision has been made to be airlifted off of the boat. The US Coast Guard expects to be on site within 30 minutes.

These people are a part of our Gunboat family. Please say a prayer for the safe recovery of the RAINMAKER crew and the safety of the USCG rescue team that has been dispatched. An airlift is not an easy operation in any conditions, never mind these conditions. The Atlantic in February is a merciless place.

Praying for their safe recovery and return.

Then, in a follow up post:

Thank you everyone. All five crew from Rainmaker have been safely airlifted off of RAINMAKER moments ago and are in a helicopter on their way back to shore.

Gunboat and RAINMAKER's insurer are actively coordinating her salvage. This will not be easy as conditions are meant to be terrible on Monday.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=163512