VOR CREWMEMBER PRESUMED LOST AT SEA
HOME NEWSINDUSTRY NEWS VOR CREWMEMBER PRESUMED LOST AT SEA
27 Mar 2018
Share
John Fisher about to head out onto deck. Photo credit: Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race
INDUSTRY DATABASE
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
John Fisher, a crew member on board the Volvo Ocean Race yacht Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, is presumed to have been lost at sea after falling overboard on Monday afternoon.
The incident took place in daylight around 1,400 miles west of Cape Horn in gale-force winds of 35 knots with the consequent sea state.
The water temperature was 9° Celsius and conditions were deteriorating. Mr Fisher was wearing survival equipment.
Given the conditions, race control was not able to divert any of the other VOR competitors who were at least 200 miles further east and downwind of SHK/Scallywag to assist in the search operation.
Exhaustive search
“The Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team conducted an exhaustive search for several hours in extremely challenging weather conditions, but they were unable to recover their teammate,” explained Richard Brisius, VOR president.
“This is heart-breaking for all of us. As sailors and race organisers losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don’t ever want to contemplate. We are devastated and our thoughts are with John’s family, friends and teammates.”
VOR coordinated with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre that located a ship 400 miles away and diverted towards the scene but this was not due to arrive until tomorrow.
Extreme sea state
Mr Brisius added: “Given the cold-water temperature and the extreme sea state, along with the time that has now passed since he went overboard, we must now presume that John has been lost at sea.
“All of us here at the Volvo Ocean Race organisation send our heartfelt condolences out to John’s family, his friends and his teammates and we will do everything in our power to support them in this very difficult time.”
Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag has now resumed sailing in a north-easterly direction towards the South American coast around 1,200 nautical miles away.