Non-stop all round: Cancellation! Peter Conrad also gives up his third attempt

Eckernförde skipper Peter Conrad has cancelled his third attempt at a non-stop circumnavigation. Suspected structural damage to his DEB 33 "Timshal" and drinking water problems make continuing the project seem too risky for the 48-year-old from Eckernförde. The abandonment was a matter of common sense and seamanship, he says.

After two failed attempts shortly after the start last year, the third non-stop trip around the world once again began with a few problems. Conrad set off from IJmuiden in the Netherlands on 24 August. Very changeable weather in the English Channel caused him unexpected difficulties with the small, relatively heavy boat.

During extended periods of calm, Conrad often had to motor in the current- and traffic-rich area, and the diesel supplies dwindled early on. Then there was a knock-down in strong winds and current seas, during which the skipper injured himself. He struggled for days and hardly got any sleep.

But when they reached the open Atlantic, things seemed to take a turn for the better. The "Timshal" made good time across the Bay of Biscay and off the Portuguese coast. The skipper seemed to have found his rhythm. He was finally "enjoying" the journey, as he reported, and was beginning to enjoy sailing.

On the night of 7 September, however, the ship took a brutal blow in rough seas in a wave trough. As a result, Conrad heard disturbing creaking noises coming from the mast base. It was possible that the deck had suffered structural damage - the mast of the "Timshal" is not through-stepped, it stands in its foot on deck. And the warning signals became louder and louder as time went on and the ugly noises seemed to spread.

As a result, the skipper gradually lost "the necessary confidence in the continued stability for a circumnavigation". Especially as the extremely tough waters were still ahead of him.

In addition, the drinking water in the tank had become undrinkable, presumably due to a reaction between the material and an additive that had been added before departure. This meant that Conrad would have had to rely solely on the manual watermaker to continue. This risk also seemed too great to him.

He therefore decided to abandon the ship in the Atlantic, roughly at the latitude of the Strait of Gibraltar. The "Timshal" is currently sailing to Cádiz. It remains to be seen whether Conrad will attempt a fourth voyage. What is certain, however, is that he will not try again with the aged DEB 33, which he has spent nine years preparing for this project.