The man who died when two boats sank in rough seas off Cape Greco on Saturday has been identified as Dimi Mavropoulos, a Limassol businessman, international rally driver and founder of the Cyprus Motor Museum.
Mavropoulos was recovered unconscious by helicopter and taken to Famagusta General Hospital, where his death was confirmed, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) said. He appears to have been trapped in the wreckage.
Born in Limassol in 1949, Mavropoulos began rallying as a teenager and went on to drive for Ford, Mitsubishi and the Chrysler/Talbot Cyprus team over a career spanning more than 45 years. He won the Cyprus Rally Championship in 1986, 1988 and 1990, setting an all-time record in 1990 by winning all seven championship events in a single season. In 2014, he founded the Cyprus Historic & Classic Motor Museum.
In a 2019 interview with allaboutlimassol.com, Mavropoulos recalled selling produce from his family’s orchard as a child and being arrested at the age of nine after a lengthy police chase. He later worked as a commercial agent for Cypriot agricultural exports in England before his rallying career took off. Asked what had motivated him to found the museum, he said he had wanted “to leave something behind, to give back to my city.”
Cyprus activated its national Search and Rescue Plan “Nearchos” at 14:30 on Saturday after three boats got into difficulty in the Agioi Anargyroi maritime area near Cape Greco. Two of the boats were destroyed after running aground on rocks amid severe sea turbulence, the JRCC said. Police and military helicopters, a police patrol boat, fire crews and ambulances were mobilised for the operation.
Six people in total were recovered. One man from the first boat was thrown onto the rocks and rescued by police; two others were picked up from a third boat that did not sink. Mavropoulos’s wife and daughter jumped into the sea and were rescued by helicopter; both are hospitalised. All four are reported to be unharmed or in stable condition.
The rescue took place amid a storm that weather tracking page Kitasweather said could make this the rainiest August in Cyprus since records began in 1902, with rainfall estimated to reach more than 700% of the monthly average.
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