KEY POINTS:
Veteran British yachtsman Tony Bullimore, dubbed "Captain Calamity", is back on dry land in Auckland after abandoning his attempt to beat Ellen MacArthur's 71-day round-the-world record.
Mr Bullimore was just 10 days into the challenge on the catamaran Doha - the renamed Enza boat Sir Peter Blake used to circle the globe non-stop in 1994 - when trouble struck in the Tasman Sea, forcing him to scrap the mission.
Bullimore, known as Captain Calamity in Britain's tabloids, previously made headlines when he survived for five days in the hull of a capsized yacht in the Southern Ocean in 1997.
But the one-time yachtsman of the year said the name was "nonsense" and he had a strong history of sailing since he was a teenager and had won 150 races.
"Just because I've had a problem on the boat doesn't make me [that]."
The 68-year-old said he was making a routine inspection on Doha when he saw a locking pin had started to slide out of its fitting.
"If it had gone right out I would have definitely lost the rig.
"It was devastating and a tremendous shock."
He said he moved swiftly to bang the pin back in to keep the rig up.
"I thought I had done it and started again and really got romping on," said Bullimore. "Then the problem started to rear its head again."
It was decided to take the boat to New Zealand for repair, effectively aborting the record attempt.
Bullimore said he was more than 1000 nautical miles east of New Zealand in unfavourable winds when the trouble hit. It took 2 1/2 weeks of "continuous struggle" to sail to land.
The boat was towed into Auckland from Cape Colville late Tuesday.
Bullimore, a supporter of Team NZ, celebrated his arrival with a couple of drinks and a steak dinner.
He spent yesterday working on the boat.
The yachtsman will need to return to Hobart in Australia if he is to start the challenge again.
He hoped to launch his next attempt by November after the southern winter and complete the journey in 70 days.
Friends from the Bellerive Yacht Club at Hobart intend to fly to Auckland and help him sail the NZ catamaran back to Tasmania.
Bullimore first arrived last December at the club where he waited more than four months before launching his short-lived bid on the world record.
He later blamed the delay on boat repairs and unfavourable weather.
In Bullimore's 1997 drama, he was retrieved from the capsized Exide Challenger in a costly Royal Australian Navy rescue.
- additional reporting: NZPA
