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Minha cidade Itajaí está esperando por mais uma Volvo Ocean Race mais está muito triste com a morte de Jhon Ficher.Meus sentimentos a família e aos amigos ?
congratulations to all the teams in very hard conditions…
My Heart goes out to JF's family and friends and also to all involved with the VOR.
I think this is the best southern ocean footage to date!!! Stay safe boys and girls!
'…we understand John was wearing his safety equipment..' (4.53 in). As an off-shore sailor I really do not understand how this happened if he was actually attached to the boat. All I can say is that in this race, two people have died, quite unnecessarily and inexplicably. The speed at which the boats go (say 30+ knots) and the wind angle in the Southern Ocean mean that turning round to try to recover a MOB is impossible. Surely time to call a halt to this race.
Thank you to the VOR for not going 'radio silence' again even with a tragic event like this.
There's a report of what happened: "John Fisher was on deck, in the cockpit. At the time, he was moving forward to tidy up the FR0 sheet and had therefore unclipped his tether. As the mainsail swung across the boat in the gybe, the mainsheet system caught John and knocked him off the boat. The crew on board believe John was unconscious from the blow before he hit the water." – https://tinyurl.com/y8yw7ne2
Thoughts and prayers are with JF's family, Team SHK Scallywag and the entire VOR community at this tragic time
Is it my imagination, or are they hanging on tighter when waves wash aboard and watching their tethers more carefully??? Or maybe it's me, way more nervous for them than I was a few days ago. Life is so fragile. Be safe, Sailors!!!
Heartbreaking. My prayers are with his wife and children. They should be proud of him, John died doing what many men only dream of doing.
Terrible as it is to admit but any sailor going overboard in these conditions is effectively doomed no matter what efforts their teammates make to go back to them. It is informative that many fishermen never learn to swim to avoid false hope of rescue and extended periods of waiting for the inevitable
As John Walker so clearly explained they had to try to effect a rescue but realistically there was no hope. I was a S&R officer in the Canadian Coast Guard and can confirm that even under the best of conditions a rescue is fraught with danger for all involved
It cant be to difficult to find John Fisher. I am shur he is wearing a locator beacon so the tracking system on the boat can return to his exact floating position as soon as possible.
Our Prayers go out to John Fisher and all his family and friends – can’t imagine how devastated his crew mates and skipper David Witt must feel on Scallywag . They must all think it’s some sort of nightmare .
I changed my mind, I no longer want to do this.
Why there was no "safety boat" behind VOR teams adequately prepared with technology for this kind of situations? What are safety protocols on those boats and for this type of race conditions? I smell negligence and profit hunting over safety from VOR direction. Seen that before….
Maybe my thinking is naive. But, don’t they have life-lines ?
We have technology today that can be used to better assist when these dangerous events occur. A transponder in a inflatable large life vest linked to the drone can be used to exactly locate a person overboard. I drone can hover for up to an hour.
Our kind thoughts are with the man lost at sea, his family, the crew and the VOR hq. We need to understand, that they all are challenging the sea in their quest to go to the absolute limits of sailing. At this level, the edge is a very thin line and it takes little to cross it. The sea is crewl an mercyless, neiter good nor bad, it simply is what it is, the sea. The man lost at sea was doing what he wanted to do most. We hope scallywag can rejoin the race soon, continue in the name of the man lost at see, and thus making this sacrifice worthwhile.
I can't stop thinking about the moment when the skipper says : ok, we stop the search and rescue efforts, and we'll now sail east again. Leaving their teammate behind. In the cold and dark water. Knowing what it means. As a decision maker in public and private large entities, I had the impression that sometimes I had tough choices to make. But nothing compares to this. Think about it. How can you make such a decision ? And how can you not make it, as you must also protect your crew and boat from those hellish waters ? Make no mistake: I am not criticizing David's decision. Far from it: I express my respect. I am in sympathy with the man that fate has placed in such a position. All my thoughts go of course to John's family and friends. And they also go to Scallywag's entire team, at sea and onshore. You will never forget. But you will sail on. If only, for John.
Sailing specially racing in the southern oceans IS dangerous! You have to expect to pay the highest price for it! Sincere condolations to the family!
I just hope David Witt and his crew Is not taking this as hard as I think he is. Knowing what a great bunch of guys and gals they all are I know they were all in deadly danger trying to find John. Tough call no word can describe. And for Johns family my heart goes out to you guys, I'm not ashamed to admit I'm crying as I write this. God bless you all.
Why do it, when it is so dngerous?