Sailor Safe, Hope For Second
The Age
Wednesday January 8, 1997
A navy helicopter will try to rescue French yachtsman Thierry Dubois tonight from a liferaft in icy seas 1400 nautical miles south-west of Perth.
Taking advantage of longer daylight hours, the commander of the frigate HMAS Adelaide, Captain Raydon Gates, is expected to launch a Seahawk helicopter about 10.30pm Melbourne time.
The plan is to lower Lieutenant Hank Scott, 25, by winch to Mr Dubois, 29, then lift the sailor into the Seahawk, where he will be checked before returning to the frigate.
Mr Dubois, skipper of the yacht Amnesty International, scrambled into a liferaft dropped by an RAAF P3 Orion aircraft on Monday.
Tomorrow morning the frigate will try to get close to the upturned hull of Englishman Tony Bullimore's yacht Exide Challenger, which also capsized on Sunday night.
Captain Gates said a diver would cut a hole in the hull in the hope of finding the 56-year-old yachtsman. Hopes rose when his satellite beacon began emitting an emergency signal. The beacon can be changed only manually.
"We hold no hope for him if he's not in the hull," said Captain Gates. "The water is about five degrees and air temperature around zero."
HMAS Adelaide has been steaming to the area at 26 knots, faster than expected. This is using fuel at a higher rate so the tanker HMAS Westralia is scheduled to meet the frigate on Saturday to refuel.
"We need to complete the helicopter operation in daylight so the Seahawk will probably be launched when HMAS Adelaide is about 200 nautical miles from the search area," said the Seahawk's tactical commander, Flight-Lieutenant Arthur Heather.
Lieutenant Scott said his greatest fear was getting wet.
"Not many people are aware of the dangers of cold water shock," he said. "It can actually make your heart skip a beat."
Mr Dubois told rescuers yesterday afternoon that he was well and in good spirits. An RAAF spokesman, Colonel Andrew Reynolds, said radio contact was made at 4.30.
"He has told us that he is extremely well and has enough food and water to last for the next few days until help arrives," Colonel Reynolds said.
The conversation was recorded, in part, as follows:
Orion: Amnesty International survivor, do you read?
AIS: Yes, I hear you.
Orion: AIS, are you OK?
AIS: Yes, sir, everything OK, a little bit cold, but, er, it's OK.
The race organiser for the Vendee Globe Challenge, Mr Philippe Jeantot, said that if Mr Bullimore was inside the hull of his boat, which had lost its keel, it was the safest place."It gives the yacht the possibility to float upturned with very little risk to sink."
A RAAF spokesman said the damage to Mr Bullimore's boat indicated the keel may have hit a submerged iceberg or a whale.
While the cost of the rescue operation could exceed $10 million, the Minister for Defence Personnel, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop, said the Federal Government did not plan to recover the money.
"I don't think you could say in any way, shape or form that we waste money saving lives," Mrs Bishop said. "We save lives because they're worth saving and because we have obligations."
Meanwhile, an attempt to bring ashore the rescued French Vendee Globe yachtsman Raphael Dinelli failed last night.
Mr Dinelli, who is on board fellow competitor Peter Goss's yacht Aqua Quorum, was not sighted by a cruiser sent to meet them off Tasmania's coast.
Repeated attempts to contact Aqua Quorum by radio from the cruiser Frontier failed, indicating that the yacht was outside local radio range of about 20 nautical miles.
An aircraft reported Aqua Quorum about 26 nautical miles south of Tasmania about 7.30pm, but the rendezvous was called off in fading light.
Mr Goss is continuing in the race and must abide strictly by rules not to touch shore for the transfer to Frontier. He is likely to be keen to stay offshore.
Frontier, carrying French and Australian media crews, pulled into Recherche Bay.
WHY DUBOIS'S YACHT ROLLED OVER
Rogue wave
* Rogue wave approaches from 90 degrees angle from the rest ot the waves, knocking the boat on its side.
* Boats entered in the race are required to be self-righting and so it should have righted itself. It is possible that modificaitons to the boat could have been made, reducing this ability.
Self-righting
* When a racing boat is sailing down wind (running) the water ballast tanks would be empty to make the boat lighter. The only way to activate the tanks is from inside the hull of the boat.
* The wide beam of the boat makes it harder to self-right.
* The small cabin means there is less air trapped that could assist in righting.
* After a boat has been upside down for some time the mast will fill with water making it heavy.
Skipper: Thierry Dubois
Boat name: Pour Amnesty International
Built: 1989
Length: 20.10m
Main beam: 5.12m
Total weight: 10 tonnes
Mast height: 25m
The Vendee Globe race rules require boats to be self righting. All boats must be able to right themselves to up to a point of 120 degrees
© 1997 The Age