4 from capsized boat rescued off Cape Cod
Four men were rescued more than 1,400 miles off the coast of Cape Cod yesterday after their sailboat capsized Wednesday night.
The boaters were rescued through an effort involving US and Canadian agencies and two merchant vessels, the US Coast Guard said in a statement.
The 36-foot, red-hulled sailboat Roule Ta Bille capsized more than 1,400 miles east-northeast of Provincetown. The four men aboard, who spoke French, were rescued by the merchant vessels Unique Sunshine and Maersk Chancellor shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday.
The weather was rough at the time, with 51-mile-per-hour winds and 25- to 30-foot seas.
Coast Guard officials said last night that they did not know what port the boat had sailed from or what its destination was. Nothing more could be learned about the nationality of those aboard.
But officials said the vessel’s captain contacted his father in Quebec via satellite phone to inform him of the situation Wednesday night. The father contacted Canadian authorities, who alerted the Coast Guard office in Boston around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday.
The Coast Guard also received information about the sailboat’s location through an alert from the boat’s emergency radio beacon and a commercial service that provides emergency assistance.
“We recommend all mariners have multiple means of communication, such as marine VHF-FM radio, satellite phone, and an emergency beacon,’’ said Tim Carton of the First Coast Guard District.
A Canadian military plane was sent to the boat’s location and dropped a rescue kit containing a raft and survival gear.
The Unique Sunshine, a 600-foot tanker, arrived on scene and provided the boaters with shelter from the wind, while the Maersk Chancellor, a 250-foot oil rig tender, was en route. The crew of that vessel made the rescue.
Globe correspondent Amanda Cedrone can be reached at acedrone@globe.com. 
