The shock news only came late on Monday evening, but the accident had already occurred on Monday afternoon in the Southern Ocean. At the time, John Fisher, a sailor on David Witt's Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team, had gone overboard. The circumstances have not yet been clarified. However, the organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race continued to report the 48-year-old Briton as missing in a statement on Monday evening at 9.07 pm German time.
The press release stated that the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team reported the man-overboard accident to the race organisers at 13:42 UTC (15:42 German time). The team immediately initiated a search and rescue operation together with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC). The crew member who went overboard is a long-time friend and companion of skipper David Witt. Both had sailed together on well-known regatta yachts such as "Ragamuffin" and "Scallywag". Fisher is an experienced offshore sailor and has taken part in the Sydney Hobart Race several times. The Englishman, who has long been based in Adelaide, Australia, is taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race for the first time.
The other eight crew members of the team are safe on board, according to the press statement. The accident occurred around 1400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn in winds of around 35 knots and corresponding swell. The water temperature at the time was around 9 degrees Celsius. Although the crew sailed in daylight in the hours following the accident, the weather forecast was described by the organisers as "discouraging".
The statement went on to say in the evening: "In view of the stormy conditions, it is not an option to divert one of the six other boats in the race and take part in the rescue operation. They are sailing at least 200 nautical miles further east and downwind of SHK / Scallywag."
The rescue centre identified a ship about 400 nautical miles from the scene of the accident and diverted it to the scene. The Volvo Ocean Race statement said: "Naturally we are deeply concerned about the weather conditions. The race organisers in Alicante are supporting the Scallywag team and the MRCC during the operation."
The accident occurred during the so-called Queen's Leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Auckland to Itajaí in Brazil. At 7,600 nautical miles, the longest leg of the race around the world takes the participants deep into the Southern Ocean, where the crews have been sailing for days in extremely challenging winds that Team Brunel's experienced skipper and record participant had already described as "survival conditions". The fleet is currently facing another threatening front. Brunel's boat captain Abby Ehler quoted her team-mate Thomas Rouxel on Monday morning, who told her: "In a few hours we'll be at war out here."
The shocking news brought back many memories for participants and fans alike. For example, that a crew member of the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team had already gone overboard on stage 4 on 14 January. However, the team was able to rescue Alex Gough largely unharmed within seven minutes. More experienced sailors, however, thought of Hans Horrevoets in view of the terrible news. The likeable Dutchman had lost his life at sea on 18 May 2006 after going overboard in the Volvo Ocean Race on the leg from New York to Portsmouth. His young team on "ABN Amro Two" was able to find and rescue him in stormy conditions, but was unable to revive him. Since then, the Hans Horrevoets Rookie Award has been presented in his honour at every edition of the Volvo Ocean Race for outstanding achievements by up-and-coming sailors. In 2014/15, Sophie Ciszek from the women's team SCA, who is now sailing through the storm with the Spanish team Mapfre, received the award.
UPDATE, 27 March (Tuesday), 8 a.m: The Volvo Ocean Race organisers announced early Tuesday morning that the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team had made the difficult decision to abandon their search and rescue operation due to nightfall and the storm and set course for the South American coast some 1200 nautical miles away. The MRCC is continuing to lead the rescue operation to find John Fisher, who went overboard on Monday afternoon. A vessel 400 nautical miles from the scene of the accident had been diverted. The MRCC is also trying to locate other vessels in the area. In view of the dramatic deterioration in the weather, a further statement from the organisers said: "We must recognise that the chances of a successful recovery are diminishing."
