Crack sailor braves seas in tiny liferaft

By PATRICK GOWER, MONIQUE DEVEREUX and AINSLEY THOMSON

A rescue mission was under way early today for a New Zealand yachtsman who had spent more than 12 hours floating in a liferaft about 480km west of Cape Reinga.

Chris Sayer, a 30-year-old solo sailor, got into trouble five days into a trip from Sydney to Auckland.

He was sailing Up The Blue, which he built from scratch and named after a book his grandfather, Roger Smith, wrote about his World War II experiences.

Sayer, who regularly suffers from seasickness, is thought to have hit an unidentified object on Sunday which broke off the keel of his 6.5m yacht.

He struggled to keep the yacht upright until yesterday afternoon, when he took to his liferaft.

The National Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Wellington picked up the distress signal by satellite from Sayer at 2.30pm yesterday. He had reported the loss of his keel on Sunday night, but indicated he would try to sail to Cape Reinga.

The last radio contact was at 10am yesterday and at 5.30pm an Air Force Orion left Whenuapai and homed in on the emergency signal.

It arrived just after 7pm and saw Sayer's strobe light. A flare was fired from the liferaft and Sayer was seen moving on board.

Attempts by the Orion crew to drop a radio to Sayer were abandoned because it was pitch black and the conditions had deteriorated. The liferaft was battling 3m swells and 40- knot winds.

A 100m chemical container ship, Stolt Kikyu, was within 150km of Sayer and was diverted to him. It was due to arrive at 2.30am. The Orion planned to circle above the liferaft until it arrived.

The Stolt Kikyu is expected in Auckland late today.

National Search and Rescue spokesman Paul Harrison said although Sayer would not be able to see the Orion, the sound of the four-engine aircraft would be comforting.

He has the comfort of knowing somone is above him and someone will soon be there to get him."

nteSayer had been in Sydney to take part in the 2002 Tranz-Tasman Double Handed Yacht Race at the end of last month.

The race was part of Sayer's training programme for the 2003 Mini-Transat - a solo transatlantic race sailed every two years. It starts in La Rochelle, France, and finishes more than 4000 miles later in Brazil.

Sayer's partner in last month's practice race was Jonathan Gravit, but the pair ran into trouble two days out from Sydney when their mast broke. They recovered it and fashioned a makeshift mast to get them back to Sydney for repairs, abandoning the race in the process.

The mast was fixed before Sayer set off for Auckland on Tuesday.

Last night Gravit, who had flown back to Auckland, said he had heard conflicting reports about what had caused the keel failure.

He said Sayer was an internationally renowned sailor and "had done things with single-hand yachts that not even the maddest European would consider".

Both Sayer and Gravit had been sailing since they were children.

In 1999, Sayer finished third in the Mini Transat to become the first non-Frenchman to step on the podium in the race's 20-year history.

Sayer's father, Richard, who lives in Katikati, said: "He [Chris] has done an enormous amount of single-handed sailing. He is very capable, but it is still a worry. I was relieved when I had heard they had spotted him but I'm still concerned because the sea is so rough."

nzherald.co.nz/marine