British sailor John Fisher went overboard as his boat traversed the South Pacific west of Cape Horn. He was reported lost at sea by race officials Tuesday. The grueling around-the-world sailing event stops in Newport this May.
According the race organization, Fisher fell overboard in stormy weather on Monday as the team was racing the 7,600 nautical mile leg from Brazil to New Zealand. Fisher was 47 years old. He was racing with a team representing Hong Kong.
“The team conducted an exhaustive search for several hours in extremely challenging weather conditions, but they were unable to recover their teammate,” said Richard Brisius, the President of the Volvo Ocean Race in a statement.
“Given the cold water temperature and the extreme sea state, along with the time that has now passed since he went overboard, we must now presume that John has been lost at sea,” said Brisius.
The Volvo Ocean Race is one of the most demanding professional sailing races in the world, taking more nine months to complete, with long stretches of racing on the open sea.
Brad Read is head of Sail Newport, the organization hosting the Volvo Ocean Race stop in Newport.
“It’s a maritime tragedy, and very tough for the entire race community, it seems like we feel every wave they hit and every storm that they endure, as we sit here and wait for the teams to come,” said Read.
Fisher’s team has been diverted to Chile for the rest of the leg of the race.
“These poor people that are on the boat still, and then try to stay safe at the same time,” said Read. “So we feel terrible for the family of John Fisher. We feel awful for the team and all the sailors out there in the Volvo Ocean Race teams.”
The race will continue, and teams are expected to reach Newport in early May. Newport is the only North American stop on race. Newport last hosted the race in 2015, and the event drew more than 100,000 spectators.
