WITH THE glare of attention on Tony Bullimore and Thierry Dubois' rescue gradually easing, organisers and race followers of the Vendee Globe are still waiting anxiously for news of another competitor.
Hopes that Gerry Roufs is still alive, following loss of contact, are becoming all but extinct authorities are relying on satellite radar and the efforts of one other entrant in their search.
Just as Bullimore and Dubois were saved, organisers in France announced that all communications and position fixes with the boat had been lost. Even more disturbing was Isabelle Autissier's report sailing within 40 miles of his last known position, she had been in regular radio contact with the Canadian. Winds gusting in excess of 70 knots had capsized Autissier twice overnight and conditions were so extreme the next day that she was unable to turn back to search.
Earlier this week, fuel limited the sole sea vessel, the Indian cargo ship Aditya Gaurav, to a 36 hour hunt before French entrant Eric Dumont diverted.
The Vendee Globe is an uncompromising and tough event. St arting from Les Sables d'Olonne in Brittany, the 32,000 mile course is sailed in open 60 footers with the objective being first around the world single handed. Stops are not permitted and result in instant disqualification unless a return to France (to restart) is made.
While, in many respects, the event is a race around Antarctica, it is the course and solo nature of the Vendee that causes many of its problems. Although `virtual waypoints' around the polar ice regions and southern ocean were introduced for the current race, these appear to be insufficiently far north to keep the entrants out of the worst extremes of weather.
Other events, such as the Whitbread Race use the Prince Edward Islands, at 47 south as a mandatory waypoint verifiable by satellite. The exception for all is the rounding of Cape Horn at about 56' south, but with stopovers in New Zealand these racers' great circle route to the cape still takes them further north than the Vendee boats.
The other factor is that each time a long distance solo race gets underway, all entries are in clear breach of the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea (COLREGS) that state: "Every vessel shall, at all times, maintain a proper look out by sight and bearing as well as by all available means ...". Solo skippers attempt to adhere to the COLREGS by relying on radar alarms in addition to watch routines of typically, 20 minutes on and 40 off.
Of particular relevance to the wider sailing community is the backlash against ocean sailing when large scale rescue missions have to be launched. Critics cite costs running into millions of dollars, presumably calculated on the basis of wages, administration, capital costs, depreciation etc. The reality in most instances is that true costs are frequently limited to additional fuel requirements.
Nevertheless, the physical risks to rescuers searching such hazardous regions of the earth are undeniable. Although striving for the ultimate challenge motivates these endeavours, each skipper has been deliberately and consciously placed in harms way and if trouble occurs it is the goodwill and tenacity of rescue services that will often decide life or death.
But while `hope springs eternal' fuelled the rescue efforts and improbable survival of Bullimore in a blaze of publicity last week, Gerry Roufs' fate rests with the efforts of his friend Dumont, a brave attempt marked only by its anonymity.
