As McGrath notes, the Suez is the short route for Europeans. The two were on their way to the Seychelles, prime resort islands and a favorite with UK visitors for many years.
Easily reached by air, but yachters and ships have to pass close to the horn of Africa (and Somalia) as they come out of the Red Sea.

I can't see that groups would help, the pirates would just cut one out of the herd. They are heavily armed, the average yachtman is not.