Why didn't you say something before he left Fremantle? As I understand he was also going for the records of youngest to circumnavigate and smallest boat to do so. Thank goodness we still have young people willing to have a go in this day of sitting on one's ar.e playing computer games.
No lives were put in danger except perhaps his and anyway that's their job .
Looks like the boat has been rescued and towed to Port Lincoln. Arriving at about sunrise on 15/7/23
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-15/xavier-doerr-retrieves-damaged-yacht-sa-fisherman/102606030
I'm twice his age and when I grow up I want to be just like him ??
Apparently it was riddled with holes, full of water and doesn't have a mast now ..the mast came down after the tow failed using little deck cleats and the tow was taken from the mast. The footage i seen when they arrived at the scene was she was floating high on the waterline not full of water caused by a collision with a sunfish.As she was towed out of town no evidence of a hull riddled with holes.... The media and public will believe anything you tell them to believe. unfortunately this week would have been a rare dream run across the bight if they had worked on forecast and recommended experienced southern ocean yachtsman.
on a brighter note. At least yacht and yachtsman are on there way back to safer waters.
She looks pretty well holed in a number of spots when the video is watched - pulpits ripped out and what looks like cleats ripped out of the deck as well leaving up to 100mm wide holes. She looks really small when messy compared to when she started. But being small means it is easier to put on a truck and get home via road.
Select to expand quoteBananabender said..
Why didn't you say something before he left Fremantle? As I understand he was also going for the records of youngest to circumnavigate and smallest boat to do so. Thank goodness we still have young people willing to have a go in this day of sitting on one's ar.e playing computer games.
No lives were put in danger except perhaps his and anyway that's their job .
You reckon it is ok to do stupid stuff and have others risk their lives to rescue you. Many rescues are by helicopter and every one, especially in big seas, risk the helicopter crew. It is only luck that this rescue was by a large ship.
Every skipper should be prepared for any expected conditions. This fellow was not prepared for what is normal conditions in the Bight in winter.
Select to expand quoteMorningBird said..Bananabender said..
Why didn't you say something before he left Fremantle? As I understand he was also going for the records of youngest to circumnavigate and smallest boat to do so. Thank goodness we still have young people willing to have a go in this day of sitting on one's ar.e playing computer games.
No lives were put in danger except perhaps his and anyway that's their job .
You reckon it is ok to do stupid stuff and have others risk their lives to rescue you. Many rescues are by helicopter and every one, especially in big seas, risk the helicopter crew. It is only luck that this rescue was by a large ship.
Every skipper should be prepared for any expected conditions. This fellow was not prepared for what is normal conditions in the Bight in winter.
Well we don't really know the facts do we. For example what was the weather forecast for the area he was disabled when he left Freo. He had a support crew, did the 22 y/o make the decision by himself or were wiser heads advising him. I thought he did the wise thing. As far as I am aware his boat was unsinkable , he says coming off a wave he hit something and as there was no 'bang' he presumes a sunfish, the boat was flooded below and all electronics and communications were lost except for his plb ( epirb?) ,he suffered blows to the head and spine , he knew his ground support would be trying to contact him and he could not go on so he set off his whatever. As far as being stupid I can only relate your comment to all those who have needed rescuing or have passed away in yacht races such as 1998. Were they stupid ,they all knew what was coming before the race. In regard to helicopter crews thats their job to rescue people when necessary. I can guarantee they know the risks. Oh, I know nothing about this kid except for what I have watched or read.
Boat looks like a write-off. Towing a half flooded boat is almost impossible unless it has really strong attachment points and is done very gently.
I think as Banana says "what was the forecast when he left Freo" . How much time did they have in hand to beat the record?
So when would be a good/better time to cross? How would that relate to a departure time from the gold coast?
Some very knowledgeable people on here. Maybe offer some help. Different people from different areas could chip in with local knowledge. Pretty easy to start something on his site.
Good luck to him in the future.
Select to expand quoteYara said..
Boat looks like a write-off. Towing a half flooded boat is almost impossible unless it has really strong attachment points and is done very gently.
It has been towed into Port Lincoln. Lost the mast in the tow!
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-15/xavier-doerr-retrieves-damaged-yacht-sa-fisherman/102606030?fbclid=IwAR0eH1fxd4gf7Dubwn4BB8zIttgUvNSpiaYu3d3forbQiz7WdiYBuzPUL68
The rescuers now have even more hands on experience, nothing beats real life training exercises 
Ive gotta say this cant hold it in any longer....Inexperience...Lack of respect for the ocean...or just plain dumbass....you choose. Ive followed this young chap since he left the Gold Coast...he had a dream run up the Queensland coast...across the top end and down to Exmouth...then he hit the West Coast...things were ok for a while tacking down the coast and then a big front was forecast to hit and it WAS BIG...So what do you do.??Run for cover...Try and sail around the top of it and down the back..... Hove to....or change course to SSE and sail right into the teeth of it...???...mmmm. So after he got rescued and towed into the Freemantle Sailing Club he made repairs and was ready to resume his Quest for fame and personal acheivement on the 29th June...When I saw that he was leaving FSC I looked at the forecast for the next 8 days on Windy.com and saw two massive Low Pressue systems were going to enter the Great Australian Bight with foecast 8-10mtr swells in a weeks time 7th July. Sailors I know at the FSC just shook their heads when they saw him leave.Everybody could see the forecast...surely he saw it as well...in fact somebody told/warned him to enjoy the 10 mtr swells on his Facebook page the day he left...surely he saw that.He had two days to think about it sailing down to Cape Leeuwin and had a choice to pull into Augusta and wait till they passed...by this time they forecast 110klm/hr winds and a 10mtr swell... or sail straight into the teeth of it in what is basically a 21ft Skiff. Hands up and give us hoy anyone reading this who would sail that boat into the Southern Ocean in winter when that forecast is staring you in the face....solo.....anybody..???So after he got rescued and taken back to dry land everyone is patting him on the back saying how well he has done and how he should try again and dont give up...........F##KME....are you serious..get your head around a forecast first...its my opinion that if you are going to put yourself in dangerous situations for a personal Quest or an attempt at a record then take your own rescue vessle with you.And that goes for all ocean yacht races as well...ie Vendee Globe..have your own vessle in the vicinity for rescues and dont rely on taxpayers paying for someones stupidity.Tony Bullimoes rescue a perfect example and Sydney/Hobart 1998..........Respect the Ocean....get a lot of Experience first....and dont be a Dumbass.....just sayin.
Select to expand quoteBananabender said..MorningBird said..Bananabender said..
Why didn't you say something before he left Fremantle? As I understand he was also going for the records of youngest to circumnavigate and smallest boat to do so. Thank goodness we still have young people willing to have a go in this day of sitting on one's ar.e playing computer games.
No lives were put in danger except perhaps his and anyway that's their job .
You reckon it is ok to do stupid stuff and have others risk their lives to rescue you. Many rescues are by helicopter and every one, especially in big seas, risk the helicopter crew. It is only luck that this rescue was by a large ship.
Every skipper should be prepared for any expected conditions. This fellow was not prepared for what is normal conditions in the Bight in winter.
Well we don't really know the facts do we. For example what was the weather forecast for the area he was disabled when he left Freo. He had a support crew, did the 22 y/o make the decision by himself or were wiser heads advising him. I thought he did the wise thing. As far as I am aware his boat was unsinkable , he says coming off a wave he hit something and as there was no 'bang' he presumes a sunfish, the boat was flooded below and all electronics and communications were lost except for his plb ( epirb?) ,he suffered blows to the head and spine , he knew his ground support would be trying to contact him and he could not go on so he set off his whatever. As far as being stupid I can only relate your comment to all those who have needed rescuing or have passed away in yacht races such as 1998. Were they stupid ,they all knew what was coming before the race. In regard to helicopter crews thats their job to rescue people when necessary. I can guarantee they know the risks. Oh, I know nothing about this kid except for what I have watched or read.
Yes he did the right thing when in trouble. But he got into trouble because he wasn't prepared. He can't blame his support crew for getting into trouble, he is the skipper and he is responsible. The winter weather in the Bight is very often bad and it appears from others commenting here that the forecast was for bad weather.
I spent two years crewing helicopters including search and rescue of which I've done a few. It isn't their job to risk their lives rescuing people who got into trouble by being ill prepared.
My apologies for going on about this but yacht skippers need to take responsibility for everything, including for being prepared for the conditions they are going into.
He shouldn't have been out there.
It's the authorities fault for making it compulsory to have an epirb, they should have certain conditions on who can purchase them, maybe keep them in locked cages like those spray paint cans in bunnings
Personally, I don't have one as I think they invite bad luck, but hey that's just me.
OK. If the forecast was that bad and he didn't wait a couple of days extra it does sound a bit silly. Especially as he had just pulled in due to damage from bad weather.
As my Dad always told me"it's only stupid the second time you do it".
Well there you go .You give a young bloke the benefit of the doubt and your let down. Should have realised since my old man used to say never trust a young bloke with a beard . 
. I can only hope he has learnt his lesson and continues sailing .
" The most amazing wonder of the deep is its unfathomable cruelty "
The Mirror of the Sea
Joseph Conrad
Not the place to play silly buggers !!!
Mason
Below waterline was responsibly sound just some antifoul peeling off for some reason on the bow caused by a sunfish apparently. Most of the damages was caused when the tow was taken by the mast base which caused the mast to fall and impact the deck .etc hence why he said on the news the hull was riddled with holes. It's a insurance apparently. He had left it on autopilot on when he was rescued hence why it was still tracking a heading. Also was way off his proposed track which shows he was getting forced onto a SE heading not really ideal unless your forced or looking for shelter.The biggest fishing boats in the PL fleet where trying to enter the marina 4 days before this front was going to sweep through, all could see it coming from the West. Good on him for trying to break a few records and no doubt after a bit more experience he might succeed his dream.
Thanks for the pics and update.
I think it was Peter Blake that said "learning to slow down is the hardest thing about offshore racing. It's not in my mentality". And of course " to win first you must finish".
Ask Alex Thompson how smashing into bad weather trying to break records works out!! You end up breaking the boat or yourself.
Good on him and good to see he got the boat back. Interesting to see what he does next up
Select to expand quotegarymalmgren said..
Does he have a Gofundme page up yet?
Shouldn't be too much longer now!!
His first attempt in May/June 2022 lasted just a couple of days when he was "hit by 70 knot winds" that left him exhausted, although BoM says that there were no such winds in the whole of Qld at the time.
Select to expand quoteChris 249 said..
His first attempt in May/June 2022 lasted just a couple of days when he was "hit by 70 knot winds" that left him exhausted, although BoM says that there were no such winds in the whole of Qld at the time.
That sounds a little Tristan-Jones like, embellishing reality for the sake of a story.
I would like to know what his storm survival strategy was. What can you do in a skiff like boat with an open transom? Trail a drogue? Looks like he was just trying to sail as fast as he could.
Going off publicly available information he's had a pretty unlucky life in some respects, which changes my view about his trip.
Some of the most memorable trips I have done involve yacht rescues, including one off the coast of Antartica. I personally love it when when gas turbine flashes up at 2am, we wind up to 25kts+ and I know there's a job on.
I keep looking at this photo, with the bulb solidly on a trailer crossmember, the hull effectively sprung on tyres, strapped down hard onto keel, 2300km between Pt Lincoln and the Gold Coast, the keel joint to the hull is going to have a very hard time.
If the hull wasn't buggered before that ride home might finish it off.
Select to expand quoteEastCoastSail said..
I keep looking at this photo, with the bulb solidly on a trailer crossmember, the hull effectively sprung on tyres, strapped down hard onto keel, 2300km between Pt Lincoln and the Gold Coast, the keel joint to the hull is going to have a very hard time.
If the hull wasn't buggered before that ride home might finish it off.
That and whats keeping the tyres in place?
I guess it made it home.
Select to expand quoteActionSportsWA said..
Xavier is sailing in a Transat Mini 6.5m carbon race boat. He only recently set off again after encountering some serious conditions off the coast of WA. Stopped in to Freo for repairs. He was well ahead of the non stop solo circumnavigation of Australia when he was forced to stop. He was still chasing the record for the youngest sailor and smallest boat to circumnavigate Oz.
Sounds crazy out there, best of luck to him. He has skills and knowledge so hoping everything will be fine and he returns safely.
DM
skills and knowledge, yet going for a 'youngest' record huh
