‘Great to be alive ... magic’

Just hours before catastrophe, a sailor bidding to be the first Irishman to single-handedly sail around the world made a New Year’s resolution.

"I was going to take less risk with my life."

Things were going well for Enda O’Coineen aboard his 18.3m racing yacht Kilcullen Voyager,  having navigated his way through tough Indian Ocean conditions.

But after a self-steering system glitch, the  sailor took control and jibed into trouble 180 nautical miles southeast of Dunedin.

"It was like getting caught with your trousers down," Mr O’Coineen said.

Nearly two months into the Vendee Globe endurance solo round-the-world race,  a strong squall ended the 60-year-old’s dreams of rewriting the record books.

"I just heard it and instantly the whole rig — a 110-foot mast — just crashed down."

Mr O’Coineen described the ordeal from dry land in Dunedin after being towed to safety by fishing trawler Lady Dorothy, skippered by Steve Little.

GPS race maps show the competitive sailor made a brief detour via Stewart Island’s Port Pegasus before being picked up.

He made it ashore late Thursday night. As the luck of the Irish would have it, Mr Little  owns the Carey’s Bay Historic Hotel, which meant after 62 days at sea, Mr O’Coineen finally got a decent night’s sleep — but not before a round of drinks to mark the rescue.

When the Irishman returned to his  yacht yesterday he was bleary-eyed but grateful.

"No disrespect, but it’s the last place in the world I expected to be," he said.

"It’s great to be alive, actually ... it’s magic."

Despite being on solid ground, a couple of months at sea alone had taken its toll.

"The land is moving. It’s like you’ve had a few pints, you know."

Mr O’Coineen said he was on target to sail around the world in 100 days and was devastated his voyage ended the way it did.

"It shouldn’t have happened."

When disaster struck, Mr O’Coineen said his survival instinct kicked in and with the mast hanging off and ropes whipping around him, he  acted fast.

After 15 minutes ‘‘slashing’’ he managed to detatch the broken parts, leaving him all but stranded in the  Southern Ocean.

Mr Little said with 1000m of steel wire aboard his vessel he was ideally set up for the rescue, which went smoothly, despite four-metre swells.

He was impressed by Mr O’Coineen’s "mental fortitude" in spending so long at sea alone.

Things could go wrong very quickly, Mr Little said.

"You have one problem you can handle, the second you can manage and with the third it falls over. It’s a domino effect."

Mr O’Coineen said he now had three options.

"Someone could write me a cheque [for the boat] and I’m out of here," he suggested.

Or a Europe-bound ship could  pick up Kilcullen Voyager. Tantalisingly, the third option would be a mast replacement and a continued  bid for glory. But that would come at significant cost.

How much, Mr O’Coineen was unsure.

"How long is a piece of string?" he said.

"She’s a very specialist boat."

With a James Joyce quote pasted to the outside of his vessel and a Galway streetscape pasted to the inside, Ireland was never far from Mr O’Coineen’s mind.

Add to that the news of his second grandchild being born and the man would be forgiven for rushing home.But the intoxicating lure of exploration was hard to repress.

"I could really have a good time here. The missus is not expecting me back for another month," Mr O’Coineen said.

"I’m a sailor. Life’s a voyage, you know."

rob.kidd@odt.co.nz