Sea rescuers had to rush to the aid of a stricken yacht ironically living up to its name ‘Bad Habit’ after it struck a whale for the second time in as many days in False Bay in the Western Cape.

The 35-foot yacht with seven crew members on board was taking part in the annual FBYC Spring Regatta on Saturday when it struck the whale and started taking on water and sinking about one nautical mile off-shore of Fish Hoek.

Responding to the Mayday distress call‚ the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) launched two rescue craft and requested the False Bay Yacht Club (FBYC) to also dispatch its marker boats to the scene.

“Sea conditions were a two-metre swell and 25-knot South Easterly. One of the marker boats‚ an SA Navy Harbour Patrol Boat‚ reached the scene first and rafted their Navy Patrol Boat to the yacht to act as buoyancy assisting the yacht to stay afloat‚” NSRI Simonstown station commander Darren Zimmerman said.

“The yacht had struck a whale accidentally while sailing at about 13 knots (24 km an hour) causing the transom mounted rudder to be ripped off the yacht leaving a hole about half a metre wide below stern deck causing a sudden and massive inflow of water.

“The yacht crew‚ who would later be commended for their good seamanship‚ reacted quickly by using life-jackets‚ sails‚ seat cushions‚ and whatever loose bits and pieces of the yacht they could to plug the hole to stem the ingress of water and it seems even their own bodies were used in their efforts to plug the hole that had been caused. Crew also bailed water using buckets‚” Zimmerman added.

He said three of the yacht crew were found to have sustained injuries during the ordeal while a female crew member had to be treated for hypothermia and near drowning symptoms.

“The near drowning symptoms appeared to have been caused from the lady swallowing water while stemming the inflow of water through the hole in the yacht‚” Zimmerman said.

“It was revealed that on Friday the same yacht Bad Habit had struck a whale while sailing‚” he added.