Reunion 43 years after flare led to rescue
20/11/2023
A sailor who was rescued by an airman after setting off a flare has been reunited with him after 43 years.
Yves Le Cornec left Boston heading for France across the Atlantic when stormy seas capsized his sailboat, reports the Times Colonist.
The young French sailor took to a liferaft and after drifting for three nights. The aircrew heard a bleep from his emergency locator beacon and the flare was spotted by a Canadian Air Force crew member, Steve Nichol in what he called a miracle.
The two recently met again in France, where they talked of the rescue.
After circling the liferaft, the plane marked its position with flare buoys. It contacted a ship 20 nautical miles away and dropped a trail of flares for it to follow which enabled the freighter to locate and pick up the stranded sailor.
Yves Le Cornec went on to be the youngest sailor to complete a solo crossing of the Atlantic aged 19 and won the Whitbread Round the World Race.
The image of Steve Nichol is from British Columbia Aviation Museum’s Facebook page.
Source: Times Colonist
