A private regatta between friends who love recreational boating who took advantage of the end of the season to sail between the Pitiusas ended yesterday morning in tragedy with an accident involving a support boat that crashed in Caló de s’Oli on Formentera. On board were six men of Dutch nationality. One of them died, another is seriously injured and the remaining four were discharged yesterday afternoon from the Formentera Hospital.
A specialized company tows the ‘Elvis’ in es Calo de s’Oli towards the port of Eivissa. | C.C.
Ibiza Regatta
A dozen boats, sailboats and catamarans participated from October 4th until yesterday in this marine expedition known as Ibiza Regatta, a private meeting organized by a group of boat owning friends. Most of them are foreigners and have been meeting every year in the Pitiusas to sail the two islands. This year they resumed the regatta after the break caused by the pandemic, and last Wednesday arrived at ses Illetes where they anchored.
A moment of the towing operation of the boat. | C.C.
But early yesterday morning around 3:45am, six Dutchmen who were part of this regatta decided, for reasons that are still unknown, to use the dinghy ‘Elvis’, and when they were in the area of Caló de s’Oli in Punta Pedrera, they crashed against some rocks. The boat was embedded against the coast and the rescue services found the bodies of some of the crew members in the water. The deceased was ejected from the boat and hit his head on the rocks.
The judicial police of the Guardia Civil inspected the area. | C.C.
It is still unknown what led them to embark at that time of the morning, when the group of sailboats was anchored along ses Illetes, from where they set sail yesterday morning, as they had planned.
Situation of the boat ‘Elvis’ after hitting the rocks. | D.I.
As a consequence of the brutal collision against the rocks one occupant, 35 years old, died, and five others were injured, one of them, a 48 year old man, was seriously injured and was transferred to the Hospital Can Misses, where he underwent surgery yesterday and is still hospitalized. The remaining victims, aged 24, 25, 39 and 41, who were admitted to the Formentera hospital, were discharged yesterday afternoon, as reported by the Health Department of Ibiza and Formentera.
When the firefighters arrived at the scene of the accident they found a very seriously injured person who was between the rocks and the water. Once rescued, the SAMU 061 began to perform resuscitation maneuvers for 40 minutes as he had gone into cardiorespiratory arrest, but despite the efforts could not save his life.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.