Nine crewmen from Team Vestas Wind were rescued after abandoning their 65-foot sloop that ran aground on a reef off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean during the Volvo Ocean Race.

The sailors will stay on the remote Ile du Sud, where there is a house and some facilities, race officials said late Saturday night. There were no injuries.

Revisit your boat insurance coverage for the year ahead, contact  your insurance agent to request a quote for boat or yacht insurance and receive coverage tailored to your unique needs.

Know how to summon help in the event of an emergency.  Every boat out on the water in winter should have a distress light to send an SOS signal or a flare gun. A VHF marine radio is even better because you can issue a Mayday call on channel 16, complete with your boat’s name, your location and a description of the emergency.

Be ready and prepare for freezing temperatures.  Northern winter’s can be harsh on vessels. Just as with cars and trucks, boat batteries can be affected by the cold. Investing in an economically priced solar charger can help ensure your battery is strong despite the cold. Depending on the type of boat you are operating, you may also have to protect plumbing lines or hoses from freezing. Be vigilant to ensure lines are empty if need be, kept warm, or better insulated.

Dress appropriately. As with any outdoor winter activities, layers are the best way to dress warmly. If you get too warm, it’s easy to shed a layer. In cooler climates cotton, wool or other special thermal undergarments are also a wise choice. In addition to mittens, gloves and a warm hat, ski goggles can be extremely useful if you are facing biting winds and driving snow. In warmer climates remember that you will need adequate protection from wind and sun while you work to obtain help.

Make sure to keep a fully stocked safety supply kit on board. These include a fully stocked first aid kit, adequate drinking water and food to last for all the passengers for at least a few days, and at least one change of clothes for each person in case someone falls overboard or gets wet some other way. Other things to consider are pocket warmers and hot beverages or soup in thermos containers if you don’t have a galley kitchen.

Get the right life jacket for winter weather. There are special personal flotation jackets for cold-water temperatures that offer better protection in the cold because they are more insulated. You may even want to consider a survival suit, especially if you are a commercial fisherman or charter boat operator. If you’ll be boating in a warm climate the weather may still be pleasant but remember that even slightly cooler water can increase the speed that hypothermia sets in. Have a plan in the event that you or someone else is accidentally knocked overboard.

Always make sure to plan ahead.  Have enough fuel for your return trip even if there are weather delays. You do not want to run out of fuel on the water in inclement weather. Also if you are traveling during the winter ensure that your yacht insurance coverage is in force an adequate for risks in that area.

A float plan is a must. You should always leave a float plan with a reliable person so that if you don’t return at the time you are expected they can begin a search. This is especially important in winter when squalls and storms can blow up quickly and falling overboard is even riskier in cooler waters.

The right boat insurance coverage is essential to protecting your investment in any weather, but knowing how to boat safely during the cooler months can go a long ways towards reducing your risk of needing to file a claim.

Larry Ellison, an American software magnate and one of the world’s wealthiest men, spent hundreds of millions of dollars — only some of it on lawyers — hunting down the Cup, and then defending it in San Francisco Bay in 2013 with his syndicate Oracle Team USA. But after considering domestic options, above all San Diego, Ellison’s team announced Tuesday that it had chosen Bermuda as the site of the next Cup, in June 2017.

The Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking executed a masterly passing maneuver to guide Team Brunel to a 16-minute victory in the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race after 23 days on the open seas. The 5,200-nautical-mile stage, from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, had been packed with incidents as the fleet dodged a midleg tropical storm as well as icebergs in the early stages.

At least 129 people have died after a boat sank on Lake Tanganyika in a remote southeastern corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo, provincial authorities said. Laurent Kahozi Sumba, the transport minister for Katanga Province, said that the true toll of the disaster was not known but that 129 bodies had been recovered and 232 people were known to have survived. Many boats in Congo carry far more people and cargo than are listed. The disaster happenednear the border with Tanzania.

After years of neglect, the Indonesian government said on Thursday that it would take a hard line against thousands of illegal foreign fishing vessels that it says rob the local industry of as much as $25 billion a year in lost catches.

In recent weeks, the Indonesian Navy has seized and sunk dozens of foreign fishing boats from neighboring countries like Malaysia and Vietnam. The government said this week that those vessels did not have permission to be in local waters and that they were often in search of high-value species like tuna.