Toni Bullimore has once again strengthened his reputation as a bankruptcy-unlucky sailor. Serious damage to the rig of his "Doha" forced him to give up his most recent record attempt. He wanted to undercut the record set by his compatriot of 71 days and sail solo around the world faster.
The Brit, who became famous for his spectacular capsizing and subsequent rescue during the Vendée Globes 1997, set sail with his Maxi-Kat from Hobart in Tasmania on May 1st. But just a few days later, the first problems began to appear on his rig. He had to set a course for New Zealand to repair a defective forestay.
According to Bullimore, he lost a safety bolt a week earlier in bad weather, which he did not notice at first. The termination of his voyage is now inevitable because the defect is so serious that it endangers the stability of the entire rig.
Following the repair, he plans to return to Hobart to attempt the record again. In the opinion of many experts, however, the chances of this are bad because the time in the year has already moved too far and it is therefore increasingly unlikely that a good weather window will be caught.