HOBART - Plans are being made to go to the aid of another lone round-the-world sailor in trouble in the Southern Ocean, near Australia.
A spokesman for Canadian sailor Derek Hatfield said yesterday that the yachtsman's 18m boat Algimouss-Spirit of Canada was limping towards Hobart after beingknocked down three times by huge waves.
The Hobart-based spokesman Bruce Montgomery said the boat's mast spreaders were broken.
Montgomery said Hatfield was 1000 nautical miles south of Tasmania, struggling in rough conditions at seven to eight knots.
It could take four or five days in tricky, changeable conditions for Hatfield to reach Hobart at that rate as he had no fuel.
He has email and telephone communications.
Montgomery said he was co-ordinating assistance for Hatfield in Hobart.
"He is sailing very gingerly. There is no mainsail up," Montgomery said. "If things got perilous we could organise a helicopter to drop some gear.
"We have got access to a chopper which has got a range of 600 nautical miles."
Hatfield is the 13th competitor to retire from the sixth Vendee Globe round-the-world race.
The rescue of Yann Elies earlier this month will cost the Australian taxpayer up to A$4 million ($4.7 million).
The 34-year-old Frenchman was in agony after he broke a thigh and suffered other heavy impact injuries when he fell to the deck of his yacht Generali in rough seas during the race.
Sydney skipper Bob Steel's 15m yacht Quest has taken handicap honours in the Sydney to Hobart.
Steel was declared the overall winner on corrected time yesterday - his second Hobart title.
He won the title with another boat named Quest in 2002.
"I am humble about the double. To win it twice is sensational, the fight was pretty daunting," Steel said.
Quest crossed the finish line 4 hours behind the line honours winner Wild Oats XI.
