The DTV news team were amongst the first newscasters in the country to hear about the disaster stricken Vessel, skippered by Pete Goss, Team Philips. As DTV news is based on St. Marys, our reporters were able to cover the event from when the lifeboat was launched to when the Vessel reached the islands. At nine o’clock on the morning of Wednesday the 28th of March the St. Marys lifeboat crew were scrambled and within minutes crew members could be seen racing through town on bikes, on foot and by car. The first eight crew members to reach the station launched the tender boat down the slipway in order to get out to the 28 knot RNLI Severn class lifeboat ‘The Whiteheads’. Skipper, Andy Howells, who runs a passenger boat service took the controls and DTV news reported the lifeboat heading in a north-westerly direction. By about quarter past ten in the morning, news had begun to spread around the islands that the lifeboat had been called out to help The Team Philips Catamaran which had a highly publicised launch two weeks beforehand. The Catamaran was skippered by the yachtsman Pete Goss, who became famous after he sailed back to help another yachtsman on the 96/97 Vendee Globe, single handed around the worlds race, scupering his chances of winning the event. Goss undoubtedly saved the life of the French sailor, Raphael Dinelli and was awarded the ‘Legion D?honour? by the French government. The Catamaran was said to be on sea trials West of Scilly. Rumours soon spread around the island of St. Marys as Regional and National News crews flocked to the Island. One report was that the Catamaran had hit a rock north of Scilly, this rumour was quickly dismissed by DTV News as it was obvious that the Lifeboat had gone further afield and in a different direction. DTV obtained the first news of what had actually happened to the vessel, the St. Marys harbour master told our correspondent that the port and starboard bows had received extensive structural damage and that a 25 foot section of the port bow had broken off. The cause of the incident was simply stress put on the bow by the breaking waves. A frenzied excitement swept over the islands, every local wanted to be in with the action. At three thirty in the afternoon we received reports that the Team Philips Catamaran was approaching the islands under tow from the St. Marys lifeboat accompanied by a sea king helicopter from RNAS Culdrose. One local on St. Agnes, the most westerly island said “It was immense. She was limping in at a very slow pace.” St Marys quay was bustling with onlookers all wishing to capture a glimpse of the vessel. We took these pictures as the Team Philips was mooring in St. Marys roads and as the Helicopter and lifeboat approached the Quay.
