Man overboard: watch the drama as Hong Kong’s Scallywag crew rescues sailor who fell into the water during Volvo Ocean Race
It took seven minutes to find the crew member, but the team are still in the lead as they head for home
Hong Kong entrant Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag had a sailor overboard for seven minutes but recovered quickly to maintain their lead in the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.
“Although [Scallywag’s] advantage remains solid, the past 24 hours haven’t been without incident as a crew member went overboard during a sail change. He was recovered within seven minutes and is reported to be uninjured, with the team resuming racing immediately after the recovery,” race control reported.
Alex Gough went overboard and skipper David Witt is heard saying he would be dead if he hadn’t raised his hand to show the crew where he was. Witt was forced to use the engine to slow down the boat to get to Gough.
“He went out on the outrigger, I was driving, and we went off a big sea and it picked him up threw him off, like a horse,” Witt said.
“The main thing is, we got him back on board. He’s safe. But I think it’s shown everyone how hard it is to see the guy in the water. Even on a sunny day, 18 knots of wind… You wouldn’t want to be doing this in 20 knots in the dark.”
Gough wasn’t wearing a harness or a lifejacket. Witt says he should have been tethered, or at minimum have told the driver what he was doing, before he went outside the lifelines on the outrigger.
“I was pretty stupid, but luckily the guys were on to it. They turned around bloody quickly,” Gough said. “I’m good. I’m fine. It was a bit scary… But off we go again.”
Watch: Alex Gough being rescued by Scallywag crew mates