Yacht Jain 29th August, 1978
Yacht Jain 29th August, 1978 – In this incident sailors David Blagden and his partner Eleanora Murk-Jansen lost their lives when their yacht Jain struck the Blackpool shore. David Blagden was an American actor who in 1972 emigrated to England after an adventurous youth and then working as a crew member on cargo ships. He gained fame in the yachting community after taking part in a Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, in his boat Jester. He became a sailing adviser in the filming of Swallows and Amazons, and had a TV series called Plain Sailing. So a picture is portrayed of an experienced yachtsman and small boat sailor. In his interesting book titled ‘Very Willing Griffin’ he describes his transatlantic race competing against much larger ocean going yachts and gaining a creditable position against them.
In August 1978 and 34 years of age, David Blagden had been sailing his 27 foot yacht named ‘Jain’ in Scotland. Whilst attempting to sail his boat south to Cornwall over the Bank Holiday weekend a combination of bad weather and engine trouble forced him to call in at the Isle of Man.
His plan was then to abandon the trip to Cornwall and sail the boat to Glasson Dock near Lancaster where he would leave it for the winter. Engine troubles persisted when they tried to leave the Isle of Man on the Sunday morning tide and they returned to harbour. By Sunday evening the weather forecast was worsening but accompanied by an experienced sailing friend Eleanora Murk-Jansen they left Ramsey Isle of Man at 10.00 p.m. on Sunday evening. Although bad weather was forecast he needed to get back to work in London as soon as possible and he did not heed the warnings of the coastguards.
The next day lifeboats from Fleetwood and Lytham were launched in gale force 8 conditions that deteriorated to Storm Force 10 following reports of distress flares off the Blackpool coast. Fleetwood lifeboat ‘Lady of Lancashire’ was at sea for 9 hours, in appalling sea conditions off the Blackpool coast, conducting systematic ‘box’ searches of the area but nothing was found on the surface. Following an extended air sea search over a 50 square mile area, involving two lifeboats and two helicopters nothing was seen of the yacht but Eleanora’s body was found on Blackpool beach the next morning. Wreckage including a mattress, bedding, compass, and a lifebelt with the name Jain on it was found along the shoreline at Blackpool. David Blagden’s body washed up on the beach at Southport one week later (close to the position where the incident with the barque Mexico had taken place in 1886). Six weeks later a fishing boat trawled up wreckage of his boat in its nets when fishing 2 miles west of Blackpool North pier.
In this incident it was undoubtedly the need to get back for work after the Bank Holiday that made an otherwise very experienced sailor take risks that he may otherwise not have taken but the consequences are life threatening.
Fleetwood Lifeboats Past 