Don't Rock that Boat! 'Knight Star' Runs Aground During Race

LONDON, July 8, 2009— -- I'm no sailing expert, but something doesn't look right about this yacht. The "Knight Star" ran aground during the third and final leg of Tuesday's Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club's 14th Waller Harris race from Binic, France to Jersey, U.K.

The secretary of the organization said the race got off to a normal start on that fair morning, with 20 boats leaving the Binic harbor and heading northwest toward the Miniquiers buoy.

As they passed the rocky La Longue outlet, all 19 of the other boats sailed clear of the shallow water that conceals the rocks in this area. When the "Knight Star" attempted to clear the coastline, however, it became lodged in the rocks and grinded to a halt.

"The enthusiasm of the competition got to them, clearly they went in too close," said Bill Harris, yacht club secretary.

Although the boat looks to have been in a precarious position, surprisingly, it wasn't badly damaged. A metal "wing" on the bottom of the keel protected the boat from serious damage and allowed it to sit upright.

The wing is "badly bruised" because it is made of lead, which is a soft metal, but it will not be very costly to repair. "Happily, the damage is minor," Harris said.

The wing doesn't come standard on racing boats because it slows down a boat on tight turns but, it "was a good design feature in this case," Harris said.

Because the boat remained upright through the ebbing tide, crew members were even able to get off the boat and walk around while they waited to be rescued.

"The crew was a little bit shaken but they were safe," Harris said.

Two of the other racing boats, the "No Worries," manned by father and son team Karl and Tom Vallois, and the "Ocean Star," captained by Trevor Beaton, stopped to help the ailing yacht. Harris said that the duty of any sailor is to aid a stranded seaman and the yachters' time would be compensated.

The French coast guard responded to the beached vessel with lifeboats and even an aircraft. A French fishing boat was actually the one to help the Englishmen off the rocks.

The boat was floated off the rocks when the tide came in again and the boat and crew are at the St. Quay-Portrieux port in order to have the boat checked out by insurers.