Yachtswoman adrift 2,000 miles from land as storm breaks mast
A BRITISH yachtswoman is stranded 2,000 miles from land after her boat was smashed up by a monster storm.
Susie Goodall had to radio for help after the horrendous weather all but wrecked her chances in the solo Golden Globe Race around the world.
The 29-year-old is the youngest competitor and only woman to enter the event, which started in July. It has taken place only once before – in 1968 when Sir Robin Knox- Johnston was the sole finisher.
Chilean maritime authorities are helping Miss Goodall, who is stranded 2,000 miles west of Cape Horn, deep in the Southern Ocean. One of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world, it is known for huge swells, rough seas and the threat of icebergs any time of the year.
Miss Goodall, from Falmouth in Cornwall, was in 4th place in the non- stop, 30,000-mile race. Falmouth Coastguard picked up a distress signal from her yacht, DHL Starlight, yesterday morning after she was hit by a ferocious storm with 60 knot winds and massive waves.
In her last message to race control before her mast was broken, she said: ‘Taking a hammering. Wondering what on earth I’m doing out here.’
She later told officials: ‘I have been dismasted. Thought I had holed the hull because the boat filled with water, but the hull is not holed. The hull is OK. The boat is destroyed. I can’t make up a jury rig. The only thing left is the hull and deck which remain intact.
‘ We were pitchpoled [rolled end over end] and I was thrown across the cabin and knocked out for a while.’
The Chilean authorities have contacted a ship 480 miles south west of Miss Goodall’s position. Its captain expects to reach her in two days.
Miss Goodall is an ocean sailing instructor who took up the sport at the age of three.
In the 1968 race, Sir Robin’s rivals either retired or sank. But one, Donald Crowhurst, killed himself. The story of his troubled life was the subject of a film, The Mercy, released this year and starring Colin Firth.
The Golden Globe race encompasses the three great capes of the Southern Ocean: Chile’s Horn, South Africa’s Good Hope and Australia’s Leeuwin.