A rescue operation began Thursday for a British woman who was sailing solo in an around-the-world race and was stranded in the Southern Ocean after a storm battered her boat.
Susie Goodall texted that she was “safe and secure” after being briefly knocked unconscious when the storm flipped her boat end over end and destroyed its mast.
On the race website, Golden Globe Race officials said they had been in regular radio contact with Goodall since she regained consciousness.
Goodall, 29, was the youngest skipper and the only woman participating in the 48,280-kilometer (30,000-mile) race.
On Wednesday, Goodall texted race officials, “Taking a hammering! Wondering what on earth I’m doing out here,” and sent her position.
Hours later, she tweeted, “Nasty head bang as boat pitchpoled [somersaulted].” She then tweeted that her rig had been “totally & utterly gutted!”
She also reported that she’d lost most of her equipment and was unable to make any makeshift repairs.
Goodall was about 3,200 kilometers (1,990 miles) west of Cape Horn, near the southern tip of South America. Chile diverted a ship to her location to rescue her, and it was expected to reach her Friday.
The race began on July 1 in Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, with 18 skippers from around the world. After Goodall’s exit, just seven remained in the hunt. The race will end at the same port.
The sailors are expected to sail alone, nonstop and without outside assistance. They are also not allowed to use most modern technology, including satellite navigation, and the yachts must have been designed before 1988.
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