Owl aboard: British army sailors rescue tired bird 70 nautical miles out to sea

A British army sailing crew competing in one of yachting’s most demanding races found themselves conducting an impromptu wildlife rescue 70 nautical miles from shore when an exhausted barn owl made a determined bid to join their team.

The bird’s arrival aboard Fujitsu British Soldier during the 50th Anniversary RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race sparked a complex co-ordination effort between the military sailors and multiple wildlife agencies, all while the crew pressed on toward the finish line at Cowes.

“We have an extra crew member for the latter parts of the race. An exhausted barn owl that we are nursing back to health,” skipper Will Naylor reported to race officials, dryly noting the crew’s concern about finishing with their original complement: “Someone is going to have to walk the plank!”

The owl’s boarding proved less than graceful. After failing to land on a crew member’s head and tumbling from the mast into the sea three times, the bird finally collapsed on to the deck where sailors secured it with a towel.

“We thought we’d lost her, but she kept fighting her way back up and to the boat,” said Sgt Mark Petherbridge of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. The crew christened their passenger “Little Reg” before discovering their stowaway required a rename to “Little Regina”

The rescue operation involved the Barn Owl Trust, Marine and Wildlife Rescue, and Caister Independent Lifeboat, which collected the bird for transfer to a wildlife centre while the Army Sailing Association crew continued their 1,805-nautical-mile circumnavigation.

Johnny Vincent’s Volvo 70 Pace earlier edged out Palanad 4 on corrected time to claim ​the top prize of overall IRC victory ‌in the race on Wednesday, having taken Monohull Line Honours earlier in the ​week.

The race ⁠started from the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes ​on August 9 and drew 33 boats and ​182 crew members from 22 countries.