French Navy saves New Zealand family with six children

4:17 AM Fri 3 Jul 2009 GMT

'Carenza’s Skipper had to watch as the yacht sank' .

While French footballers may not be so popular in New Zealand after a French rugby player in New Zealand was recently found to be lying about his injuries, the French Navy has redeemed their nation with the New Zealand sailing fraternity after they came to the rescue of an Auckland family on a dismasted yacht.

The Bradfield family's yacht Carenza was crippled by a storm, as they sailed from Tonga to Auckland. When they sent out a mayday, it was a French patrol boat that came to save them.

Charles Bradfield, his partner Joy and their six children had spent a helpless night in two metre swells after their mast snapped and ropes got tangled in the rudder.

The following morning, as the French Navy brought them home on calm seas, it was hard to imagine the ocean hostile.

Bradfield family - photo Brett Phibbs NZ Herald - .. .

Unless you were 13-year-old Tom, who was on watch when the mast snapped.

'I kind of thought we were going to sink instantly. I ran up, opened up the hatch and yelled 'Everybody up - the mast had snapped'. Everybody looked at me as if I was mad,' says Tom.

Just after that it became clear they had to abandon the vessel. But thankfully French Navy ship 'La Glorieuse' was only 80 nautical miles away. Within hours the captain spotted the ship from the bridge.

It was too dangerous to take the Bradfields on board that night, so the French circled the Kiwis until dawn, when they took the family from the yacht by inflatable. But the rescue still posed one problem.

The last sight of Carenza, just before she slipped beneath the surface. Bradfield is immediately chartering another yacht - .. .

'We couldn't leave the vessel. This is the other emotional thing. We couldn't leave Carenza just lying afloat, and a decision was made to scuttle her. That's the skipper's job - my job,' said Charles Bradfield.

So with the assistance of the French military personnel, Bradfield scuttled the yacht and the family - Rebekah, 6, Abby, 10, Tom, 13, Emma, 14, Matt, 16, Josh, 18, mother Joy and father Charles - were then taken back to Auckland and safety.

However, Charles Bradfield was last seen trying to charter a yacht to take his family for a sail.

'You have to get them back on the horse,' he said.

by Des Ryan

Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:

Newsfeed supplied by

#News #Cruising #Sailing

Cruising

The Bar Crossing: Wait for Slack Water

Cross on slack or the first of the flood.

Cruising

Night Watch: Stay Useful After Dark

Watch stints, handovers and sleep that holds up

Nearby
Beerburrum, QLD	4 kn NE	24°
Maroochydore, QLD	10 kn ESE	24°
Nambour, QLD	5 kn ENE	22°
Sunshine Coast (Coastal), QLD	10 kn ESE	24°
North West 10 Beacon, QLD	11 kn ENE
Cape Moreton, QLD	12 kn ESE	22°
Tewantin, QLD	7 kn SE	22°
Windiest in Australia
Wattamolla, NSW	26 kn SSE
Most Windless in Australia
Tasman Island, TAS	Calm	13°
Hottest in Australia
Telfer, WA	12 kn SW	42°
Coldest in Australia
Mount Wellington, TAS	13 kn ENE	8°
Wettest in Australia
Point Perpendicular (Coastal), NSW	2.8 mm

General
	Goya carbon boom issues
	Hats and booties
	Seat harness
	Harness injury?
Gps and Speed talk
	ka72 account linking with Garmin Connect
	Another DIY GPS logger approach
	Novara to Boombas Distance Challenge: Fins vs Kiters/Wingers
Foiling
	IQFoil halo effect
	Does anybody still Windfoil once they have become proficient at Winging?
	Should I get Balz Pro 909 to replace my 899?

French Navy saves New Zealand family with six children

The Bar Crossing: Wait for Slack Water

Night Watch: Stay Useful After Dark

Live Weather

Nearby

Windiest in Australia

Most Windless in Australia

Hottest in Australia

Coldest in Australia

Wettest in Australia

(Other) Articles

Windsurfing Forum Topics

Buy & Sell

2026 SIC Ka’A

2025 Duotone Float

PPC Soar

2023 Fanatic Textreme Free Wave

2022 Cabrinha Switchblade

Unifoil Progression 170 & 200, Vyper 130 & 170,

2023 Duotone Aero Glide 900 Set

Know before you go

Download the Seabreeze app for iOS or Android.

Weather

Activities

About

Other

Support