£30m yacht hits rocks on the Riviera
By Colin Randall and Henry Samuel in Paris
(Filed: 17/09/2004)
A rescue operation was under way last night to free a new £30 million super-yacht which ran on to rocks off the French Riviera.
The 246ft long Mirabella V, owned by Joe Vittoria, a millionaire and the former Avis car hire chairman, was aground at Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice.
Five female members of the crew were taken off the yacht but eight crew stayed on board.
The yacht, which was launched this year, has a 293ft mast. Rescuers said it was apparently swept ashore by a combination of a north westerly wind and strong current.
"The crew must have been pretty inexperienced as the wind was only force two to three," said Dominique Dubois, at the Mediterranean Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Toulon.
"With their huge sail up, once they realised they were drifting inland, it was too late."
Joe Vittoria, the son of the owner who bears the same name, strongly denied that inexperience was to blame.
"The crew knew exactly what they were doing. At no time was the sail up. They were simply lifting anchor after the night, a move they have done a million times, and something went wrong - mechanical or human, we don't know yet."
Mr Vittoria also said the wind was much stronger than suggested by the coast guard. "According to those present, it was at least force four to six," he said.
He said that, once on the rocks, the boat could no longer break free due to hydraulic failure of the keel, which had leaked piston fluid. The sloop was still stuck on the rocks as divers attempted to free it with the help of a deep sea tug.
Crews from other yachts made repeated attempts to pull the Mirabella V free.
One that answered the emergency call, Big Roi, twice succeeded in attaching lines but the tow failed to hold.
The Mirabella V, built by the VT Group in Southampton and said to be the world's largest single-masted sloop.
The extent of the damage was still unclear last night.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...7/ixworld.html
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