Drum hits rocks, frees herself

Press, 17 January 1986, Page 4

Drum hits rocks, frees herself

PA Auckland Drum England, the round-the-world yacht belonging to the pop singer, Simon Le Bon, ran aground off Waitangi last evening. . - Russell residents saw Drum England strike Hermione rocks about 8.30 p.m. and slowly turn 180 degrees to become wedged fast. “The boat went from about eight knots to no knots in one second,” said Mr Bram Cone, who was watching through binoculars. “It was really quite spectacular.” There was confusion last evening as to how the undamaged yacht and its embarrassed crew freed themselves three-quarters of an hour later.

A ferry master who offered the yacht a tow, which was “graciously declined,” said the rising tide and the efforts of crew members perched on her boom managed to tilt the keel clear.

But Mr Cone, who was by then aboard a ferry, said an aluminium catamaran had a

line on the stricken .Whitbread racer to help her out of her predicament.

“They were very tetchy about it all,” he said, “and basically told us exactly what we could do with our offer to help.” In the end, said Mr Cone, Drum England could have done with a bit of local knowledge and know-how. Mr Cone said he understood how the crew must have felt — “very tired and very embarrassed ... someone had obviously got a roasting.”

“God knows who was handling the yacht or what they were thinking. They went straight inside a starboard marker that clearly signalled the rocks ahead,” he said. > :

Drum England capsized in August when her keel sheered off during the final race of the Admiral’s Cup series off the south-west coast of England.

It is not known whether Simon Le Bon was aboard Drum England when she ran aground last evening.