Colman dismasted

[erice 732]

Kiwi sailor reveals moment he was swept off his boat

 

"I haven't told anyone this yet," he said at his press conference. "I fell overboard."

To an amazed audience, he described how, one night in the Southern Ocean, he had been on the boom rearranging the sail when the lazy jacks (ropes that assist in sail handling when reefing or unfurling) broke.

"In a split second, the boom dropped into the water, I had no time to grab onto anything and was dumped into the sea. Fortunately, I was hooked on leaving me trailing behind the boom," he said.

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11808362

 

"I was too far away from the boat to get back on board, but eventually one of the waves swept me in sufficiently that I could grab hold of a stanchion. The trouble was that my harness was still clipped to the boom, preventing me from getting back aboard the boat.

"The only way to get back on board was to undo my harness, hang on to the stanchion with one arm and try to scramble back onto the boat. Fortunately I did it."

 

He became the first Vendee Globe skipper to complete the event using no fossil fuels, using instead solar and hydro-generated electricity stored in a bank of high-tech batteries.