That's probably the most extreme yacht race in the world.
One true, though sad, story. Every four years the Volvo Ocean Race takes place in 70 foot racing monohulls (used to be the Whitbread). Leaves Spain, goes round the horn of Africa and rounds the world to the east, ending in England. They have several ports, and the last couple of races made Annapolis one of their ports.
Anyway, DW and I went to Annapolis for the restart party, and were socializing with some friends when we got to meet the family of one of the Dutch racers, [SIZE=-1]32 yo Hans Horrevoets, who was onboard one of the two Dutch entries. He was also one of the two Dutch sailors on that boat, since most of the crew is international. We'd lived in Holland, so were exchanging stories with his mother and wife, who was wheeling their infant daughter in a baby carriage. Hans was a young athletic sailor who looked like he came right from central casting. His whole life had been dedicated to sailing, and he was one of the most experienced on the boat.
A couple of days later the race started, and we were sailing on the Bay as the boats passed us, not 10 yards away, quite a sight. We waved at Hans, though I doubt if he had time or interest to look at anything other than his sail trim. The rest of the story I gathered from news clippings:
A few days later the fleet had left New York and were heading for England when they got caught in a terrible North Atlantic storm in the middle of the night 1300 miles from England. Wind was not super high, just 35 knots, but the waves were 16 footers and it was the middle of the night. The waves began washing over the boat, and the skipper told them all to clip on. They couldn't all clip on at once, so they went below one by one to put on their harness. Hans was the sail trimmer and the last one to go below. Just as he was getting ready to go, a wave washed over the boat and there was no Hans. The boat expertly turned about (not easy in such seas at night) and began search and rescue, not expecting to find him in such conditions. They did locate him after an hour or so of retracing their path, pulled him onboard, but it was too late.
The crew eventually kept sailing the boat to England, and when they were close enough for helicopter support, Hans' body was taken off. Incredibly, after that tragic event, the US boat basically broke apart in high seas, and the Dutch boat went to give assistance, even after having dealt with the tragedy of losing one of their own. The US crew had to abandon their boat, and transferred to the Dutch boat. In honor of Hans, the crew consulted with themselves and Hans' family, and made the decision to continue the race. It was quite an emotional scene when they arrived in England.
This wasn't the first death on that circuit, but it was the first since 1989 and the fifth overall. It's a very challenging and dangerous race. My heart goes out to Hans' family, but at least he died not only doing what he loved, but at the pinnacle of the sport of yacht racing.
So, in memoriam, Hans, fair winds and following seas wherever you may be. It was an honor to meet you and your beautiful family.
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/index.aspx
http://www.henkdoevendans.nl/berichten2006/archief2006/ber_mei/fotomei/horrevoets.jpg
http://volvooceanrace.com/images/assets/5155_600x400.jpg
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