LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) – British solo round-the-world yachtswoman Susie Goodall was rescued by a cargo ship on Friday after her boat capsized and lost its mast during a violent storm in the southern Pacific Ocean.
The 29-year-old, the youngest entrant in the Golden Globe race, had waited two days for the Hong Kong-registered Tian Fu to arrive after sending a distress signal from 2,000 nautical miles west of Cape Horn.
The signal was picked up by Falmouth Coastguard in southwest England, with the alert passed on to race control and the Chilean maritime search and rescue authorities.
“ON THE SHIP!!!,” she said on her Twitter feed after the rescue.
Last Wednesday, December 5th at 07: 43 the MRCC Chile received an EPIRB from yacht DHL Starlight manned by Susie Goodall from UK, after being pitchpoled at 2.000 miles west of Cape Horn. MRCC Chile has tasked MV “Tian Fu” to change its original course to go to her aid. pic.twitter.com/yzSLGUvPp5
— MRCC Chile (@MRCCChile) December 7, 2018
Race organisers had earlier reported plans to lift the sailor from the deck of her yacht DHL Starlight using one of the cranes on the 38,000 tonne ship, which was heading to Argentina from China when diverted.
They said conditions had moderated, with three- to four-metre swells.
Goodall, who was in fourth place at the time of the incident, had been knocked out when the boat rolled end over end in the dismasting.
The Golden Globe was marking the 50th anniversary of the race, won in 1969 by Britain’s Robin Knox-Johnston who became the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018.