Yachting: Fatality highlights ocean race risks

Hans Horrevoets, pictured with his daughter in New York before the start of seventh leg of the round-the-world yacht race. Picture / Reuters

Veteran Kiwi ocean racer Ross Field says there is nothing extraordinary about the stretch of water where Dutch sailor Hans Horrevoets was killed and Movistar sunk in the seventh leg of the round-the-world yacht race.

The ABN Amro Two sailor, whose funeral is in Holland tomorrow, drowned nine days ago when he was washed overboard in the Atlantic ocean on the leg from New York to Portsmouth.

Two days later ABN Amro Two had to rescue the crew of Spanish entry movistar, who were forced to abandon their yacht after their keel failed and the boat started filling with water. The yacht has yet to be found.

While some waters around the globe are notorious for attracting bad weather and big swells, Field, who has competed in five round-the-world races, said the North Atlantic is not really one of them.

"It can be very rough in the North Atlantic and it can be quite smooth. I have had crossings where it has been blowing, I remember when we finished the Whitbred in 1993, it was howling up the English Channel across the Atlantic but then when we finished on Steinlager we drifted.

"It really is a variety of weather, there is nothing extraordinary."

Having just completed a sail change to deal with the increasing wind, skipper Sebastien Josse told his crew on watch to attach their harnesses and put on their lifejackets and Horrevoets, 32, was a minute away from doing so when he was washed overboard.

As everyone cannot go below deck at once it is general practice that whoever is trimming the spinnaker goes below last - and that was Horrevoets.

But in the short time he had to wait, a wave washed over the deck, knocking him overboard.

Everyone else on deck was clipped on. In a matter of 30 seconds or a minute Horrevoets would have been too.

"It was very, very sad," Field said. "But you can see how it happened, he was next to clip on and a wave just caught him."

News of Horrevoets death spread quickly among the six other teams.

In an email Pirates of the Caribbean skipper American Paul Cayard wrote: "It is a harsh world out here when it gets rough and these boats start doing excess of 30 knots. I think the crew of ABN Amro Two should be given a special recognition from the highest levels of our sport for finding Hans in 40 minutes on a pitch black night with four meter waves. Ocean Racing is a hazardous activity. You take all the precautions you can, but accidents happen."

Horrevoets' death highlights the danger of the race - a 32,000 nautical mile journey which takes competitors across some of the most treacherous waters in the world.

ABN Amro One skipper, New Zealander Mike Sanderson often talks about how family members come up to him before dangerous legs and tell him to 'look after them'.

However, it is that risk which attracts sailors to the race. A race which features in the CVs of many Kiwi sailors, including greats Sir Peter Blake, Grant Dalton and Field, who have all graced the winners podium.

But with competitor numbers falling, there are just seven in this event, Field believes this could be the last.

"I don't think it will carry on ... there isn't the numbers."

Horrevoets is the fifth sailor to die since the event began in 1973-74, when it was known as the Whitbread race.

Leaving behind a wife and young daughter, Horrevoets was the oldest member on board ABN Amro Two.

He took part in the 1997-98 race (with Brunel Synergy) and was part of ABN Amro Two's selection panel for the race.

ABN Amro Two said they will take part in Monday night's port race but have yet to decide whether they will complete the final two legs of the race.

"We are all keen to go on - we know that it is what Hans would have wanted," said ABN Amro Two skipper Seb Josse.