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CAPTAIN: DOWNDRAFT KNOCKED SHIP OVER IN 15 SECONDS (AP)

       RIO DE JANEIRO – A sudden, vertical blast of wind knocked the three-masted SV Concordia onto its side in 15 seconds, forcing the captain and four dozen students to abandon ship and ride out heavy seas for nearly two days before their rescue off Brazil's Atlantic coast, the survivors said Saturday.

Disheveled and teary-eyed, wearing navy caps and clothing borrowed from their rescuers, at least 12 of the rescued docked in Rio de Janeiro at 10:45 a.m. on a Brazilian navy ship. About 10 students stood on deck taking photos of themselves and the dozens of photographers waiting to meet them. The rest were to arrive later in the afternoon on two merchant vessels.

"We had been in the life raft for about 30 hours when we saw a search plane for the first time," said 16-year-old passenger Lauren Unsworth, a Dutch-Canadian who lives in Amsterdam. "That's when we knew we were not alone and that help was on the way."

Capt. William Curry told The Associated Press on Saturday that the vessel sank Wednesday afternoon — a day earlier than previously reported. All 64 people aboard were rescued by merchant ships early Friday.

The Concordia was on a five-month voyage that allows students in their last two years of high school and first year of college to study while sailing around the world. Forty-two of the students on board were from Canada, while others hailed from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies, said Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program.

Curry said he and the Concordia's crew had prepared a day beforehand for what they anticipated would be rough but not unusual weather. He was below deck when the ship suddenly keeled — which was normal. It was when it keeled a second time that he knew the vessel was in great danger.

The captain blamed the wreck on a "microburst," a sudden, vertical downdraft. When the vessel keeled, the entire surface area of the sails was exposed to the powerful wind, and within 15 seconds, the boat went from sailing normally, upright, to lying on its side and beginning to sink. Thirty minutes later it was completely underwater, Curry said.

"The boat started keeling a lot," Unsworth said. "It came back up, keeled again, was basically lying on its side and all the windows began to break. That's when we knew it was time to flee."

Curry said that the Concordia's radio equipment was underwater and unusable, keeping the crew from being able to call for help, but an emergency beacon was automatically released into the water.

They abandoned ship and took to the rafts in high winds and heavy seas, spending about 40 hours in the Atlantic before spotting the first signs of rescuers.

The navy said the distress signal was picked up about 5 p.m. Thursday, and an air force plane later spotted life rafts in the ocean about 300 miles (500 kilometers) from Rio.

"This was only my 15th day at sea. It was definitely a shocker," said a tearful Katherine Irwin, 16, of Calgary. "At first I was, like, I'm never going back into the ocean. But after thinking about the friendships I made in the raft, I definitely would do it again."

Edgardo Ybranez, captain of the Philippine flagged Hokuetsu Delight cargo ship that rescued 44 people, told the AP on Friday via satellite phone that everyone from the Concordia was unhurt except for the doctor, who suffered an injury before the rescue "but he is OK now." He gave no more details.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement thanking the Brazilian navy and the merchant ships for their "swift and heroic response."

The ship had visited Europe and Africa since leaving Canada in September, and it had just begun a five-month semester program on leaving Recife in Brazil's northeast Feb. 8. It had been scheduled to dock Tuesday in Montevideo, Uruguay, then visit several islands in the Atlantic as well as southern Africa and the Caribbean before returning to Canada.

West Island College International' s Web site says the 188-foot-long (57.5-meter- long) Concordia was built in 1992 and "meets all of the international requirements for safety." It carries up to 66 passengers and crew and also can operate under motor power.

The site lists tuition for the sailing program at 42,500 Canadian dollars ($40,600) a year.

___

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS that four dozen, not five dozen students were on board.)

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West Island College - Class Afloat
97 Kaulbach Street

P.O.Box 10

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

BOJ 2C0 Canada



Tel: +1 (902)634-1895

Toll Free: (US/Canada)

1-800-301-SAIL (7245)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20th of February 2010.
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia


All Class Afloat students are now safely ashore in Brazil having been delivered to Rio de Janeiro by the rescuing vessels Crystal Pioneer and Hokuetsu Delight. Class Afloat would like to thank the crews of these two vessels for helping to affect the safe return of all of our students to the shore.



After having spoken with Captain Bill Curry in Rio, our office now confirms that students, teachers and crew were evacuated from the vessel at approximately 14:30 on Wednesday afternoon and had spent an estimated 40+ hours in life rafts awaiting their rescue by these two vessels. The vessel was knocked down in a microburst or intense period of sudden wind on Wednesday afternoon.



With the final students on shore Class Afloat is now in the process of working with the Department of Foreign Affairs, its insurers and indeed parents to return all children to their families. Our office continues to be open. The students should be repatriated to their homes around the world in the next 48 to 72 hours. This news will be forthcoming.



Our website, temporarily disabled by high volume should be restored shortly.



The primary task before us now is to ensure the health and wellbeing of our students. The S.V. Concordia has been lost at sea but her safety protocols, training and the lifesaving equipment have allowed for all to come ashore safely. Our shipboard leadership staff from the first semester program have now arrived in Brazil and joined our students.



We appreciate the overwhelming support of our parents, and the alumni community from the last 25 years of our programming.



Nigel McCarthy



Contact 902 634 1895




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
19 February 2010
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia


On February 18 at 0800 AST the Brazilian Search and Rescue Coordination Centre contacted the Halifax Rescue Coordination Centre to report a distress signal received from the Class Afloat school ship Concordia. Class Afloat offers an accredited high school and university program based aboard Concordia. The vessel was en route between Recife, Brazil and Montevideo, Uruguay as part of a 10-month voyage. Sixty-four (64) persons were aboard. The Halifax Rescue Coordination Centre contacted Class Afloat’s offices at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, to report Concordia’s distress signal. The Class Afloat staff attempted to contact the vessel by email and satellite phone but were unsuccessful. Throughout the day ongoing attempts were made to reach the vessel by all communication methods available. The Brazilian Search & Rescue and Halifax Rescue Coordination Centre tracked the distress signal throughout the day. The vessel’s last reported position was 300 nautical miles off the coast of Brazil southeast of Rio de Janeiro. Search & rescue vessels and aircraft were deployed to the coordinates of the emergency beacon. At 20:00 on the 18th, Brazilian Air Search & Rescue aircraft reported the sighting of a safety boat & four life rafts in the water with people aboard. The stuatus of the Concordia is currently unknown. The MRCC in Rio has today advised that all persons on board the Concordia have been accounted for. This message has been confirmed by our Captain. We are in constant contact with the Canadian and Brazilian rescue authorities and have been in touch with the families of those on board the Concordia. All necessary assistance will be provided to ensure that they are properly taken care of and safely repatriated as soon as practicable.

Contact:

JRCC Halifax – Denis McGuire 902-427-2104

Class Afloat – 902-634-1895



WW
Amazing, simular to the movie "White Squal".... They are very lucky to be alive.
A most interesting and sobering story. It can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, and on any boat. This account shares some elements in common with another real life nautical disaster many of you are probably familiar with, "White Squall : The Last Voyage Of Albatross" by Richard E. Langford, produced as the movie "White Squall" by Ridley Scott in 1996. The crew of the Albatross did not fair so well as that of the Concordia.

The Albatross was a school sailing ship owned by Ocean Academy, Ltd., and operated by Captain Christopher "Skipper" Sheldon and his wife, Dr. Alice Sheldon. In the Fall of 1960, the couple took aboard eight teenage boys for an eight month voyage. After many months of learning and adventure and many ports of call, the ship was hit off the coast of Cuba by the fabled and deadly storm, the white squall.

The mighty brigantine was knocked down and rolled, began to take on water, and rapidly sank. Captain Sheldon lost six of his crew, including his wife. After his trial in 1961, Christopher Sheldon became the first Peace Corps director in Latin America. He never remarried.

As a matter of further interest for those who have seen the film, the actual s/v Albatross can be seen briefly in the 1958 Rock Hudson film "Twilight for the Gods" as a burning, sinking ship in one scene of that movie. It was at that time owned by Ernest K. Gann, the screenwriter who wrote that film. Shortly after the making of that film it was sold to Ocean Academy Ltd.

The ship used in the movie "White Squall" is the s/v Eye of the Wind, originally built in 1911 as a top-sail schooner and refitted in 1975 as a brigantine. It was also used in The Blue Lagoon in 1980, Savage Island (1985), and Tai-Pan (1986).

The tag line for the movie White Squall: The strongest force in nature is the will to survive.

The movie was given the following dedication: In Memory Of: Alice Sheldon; George Ptacnik; Rick Marsellus; Robin Wetherall; John Goodlett; and Chris Coristine..."Good shipmates all."

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