British yachtsman who fell overboard during round-the-world race is presumed 'lost at sea'

A British yachtsman who fell overboard during a round-the-world race is now presumed to be “lost at sea”, organisers have said.

John Fisher fell from Team Sun Hung Kai’s Scallywag yacht around 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn on Monday.

A search was launched but race organisers said the temperature of the water, “extreme sea state” and time since the 47-year-old fell overboard meant they now presumed he had been lost at sea.

In a statement, Richard Brisius, President of the Volvo Ocean Race, said: “This is heart-breaking for all of us.

“As sailors and race organisers losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don’t ever want to contemplate. We are devastated and our thoughts are with John’s family, friends and teammates.”

The statement said that as soon as it was informed there was a man overboard, Race Control for the Volvo Ocean Race coordinated with the team and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, which had diverted a ship towards the scene but it is still more than a day away.

It said the rest of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet was some 200 miles downwind and sending them back upwind to help, against gale to storm force winds, was not a viable option.

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The statement added the Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag team had conducted an exhaustive search for several hours in extremely challenging weather conditions, but were unable to recover their teammate.

“Given the cold water temperature and the extreme sea state, along with the time that has now passed since he went overboard, we must now presume that John has been lost at sea,” it added.

“All of us here at the Volvo Ocean Race organisation send our heartfelt condolences out to John’s family, his friends and his teammates and we will do everything in our power to support them in this very difficult time.”

It said the team had resumed heading in a north-easterly direction and organisers’ focus was to provide support and assistance to the team.

“We are sure that there will be many questions about how one of our sailors was lost overboard yesterday,” it said. “We can address those after the team has been fully debriefed.

“Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to John’s family and the entire Scallywag team.”

A statement by Lee Seng Huang and Sun Hung Kai & Co, owner and sponsor of Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, said they were devastated by the news.

“Witty and the Scallywag crew have been battling extremely treacherous conditions in the Southern Ocean and this tragedy is heart breaking.

“The crew did everything they could to recover John, leading an extensive search and rescue operation in stormy conditions. Now, with the forecast worsening and night falling, the team has made the difficult decision to head for landfall, 1,200 nautical miles away in South America.

“Over our long passages, I have come to know Fish well. Despite the dangers of the sport he loved his sailing. He is one of our own, a long-standing member of the team. He is a great and experienced sailor, the finest human being and a true Scallywag.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with John’s family and the crew at this most difficult time, and we are working with Volvo Ocean Race to provide all the support we can. Our focus now, is getting the boat and crew to a safe harbour.”