Yachting: Solo sailors suffer sting of soaring southern sea

By Suzanne McFadden

The malevolent Southern Ocean yesterday became a terrifying battleground for sailors in the Around Alone race - one missing and another rescued.

But each of the 11 skippers in the solo round-the-world race knew what the dangers were when they left Auckland 10 days ago.

Race leader Isabelle Autissier was still missing last night after her boat capsized in freezing waters halfway to Cape Horn in the early hours yesterday.

Her friend, Italian Giovanni Soldini, was being pushed backwards in strong headwinds as he struggled to find Autissier's boat rolling in 12m seas.

Leg leader Marc Thiercellin was closest to Autissier, his fellow French skipper, when race headquarters called for help. But he could not turn back to help because of rigging problems.

British skipper Josh Hall was rescued yesterday after losing his mast south of the Chatham Islands a week ago.

Hall had battled heavy seas under a jury rig, but he was finally met by a fishing boat yesterday and towed to Waitangi on the Chathams.

The race fleet were warned at the final briefing in Auckland of the consequences if something went wrong on the way to Cape Horn. There would be no outside assistance from land-based rescue services - there was no other place on Earth further from land.

There had been lives lost there before. In the 1994-95 race, a 70-year-old English sailor was lost to the seas near Cape Horn.

The last solo skipper still in Auckland yesterday recalled the dangers of the Screaming Fifties in the Southern Ocean - American Robin Davie was dismasted in the same stretch of water during the last race.

"Isabelle is one of the very, very best sailors in the world," Davie said.

"She's one of the hardest drivers of a boat you will ever find.

"But she's certainly been in this kind of position before, so she's capable of taking care of herself. I'm sure she'll have her wits about her. If someone's going to rescue her, she'll be there."

Davie said the emergency gear on every boat in the race was state-of-the-art.

"She will have a radar beacon with her that will lead Giovanni absolutely to the spot - like leading a blind man into the middle of a football field," he said.

Last night race headquarters were receiving signals from three emergency beacons Autissier had activated.

Around Alone race spokesman Dan McConnell said last night that the beacons would continue transmitting for a minimum of 72 hours, even if they are submerged.

Another sailor, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Mouligne on Cray Valley, was on standby to go and help if Soldini also got into trouble.

Pictured: Solo skipper Isabelle Autissier in Auckland on board her yacht PRB. PICTURE / FOTOPRESS