Yachtie Nz-bound after mast breaks
"This should not have happened. However, I took the risk, it's my responsibility and I am heartbroken for all who have supported the challenge." Enda O'coineen
An Irish yachtsman on a solo round-the-world race is making his way towards New Zealand after wild weather snapped his boat’s mast.
Enda O’coineen was 57 days into the Vendee Globe endurance race, described as the ‘‘Everest of sailing’’, when a nasty jibe on New Year’s Day damaged his vessel.
The Team Ireland skipper was forced to cut the mast and its rigging, while about 200 nautical miles off New Zealand’s east coast.
‘‘It was a sudden 35 knot squall and a series of involuntary gybes (sic) – as the boat self-steering at a critical time went out of control – which caught us without a backstay runner and not enough support for the mast,’’ O’coineen reported on the team’s website.
‘‘This should not have happened. However, I took the risk, it’s my responsibility and I am heartbroken for all who have supported the challenge.’’
O’coineen, 60, would have been the first Irish sailor to complete the endurance race, which started in Les Sablesd’olonne, France, on November 6, 2016. O’coineen officially retired from the race on January 2.
The news comes two weeks after French skipper Thomas Ruyant limped into Bluff Harbour on his badly damaged yacht.
Ruyant was also competing in the Vendee Globe.
‘‘I am still shaken and struggling to get back to New Zealand and no motor. It could be many days to get in range for a tow.
‘‘Meanwhile we have plenty of food and are secure on the mastless boat,’’ O’coineen said.
The skipper’s cousin and good friend, Brian Lynch, said the sailor was holding up well and had created a temporary ‘‘jury rig’’ to gain some momentum on the water.
‘‘He expects wind in 12 hours and will take three days sailing to get to New Zealand’s east coast.
‘‘This is not an emergency situation as he has favourable weather conditions coming,’’ Lynch said.
‘‘He wants to hang on to his yacht, and was hoping to end up in Bluff, Dunedin or Lyttelton, so anybody in that area should watch out for him for the last part of his voyage.’’ – Fairfax NZ