Seasoned offshore sailor Robin Davie has made contact. It follows an all ships alert for the solo skipper after he was reported overdue on a 300 miles passage from France to Falmouth, Cornwall
12 January 2019
An all ships alert for British offshore sailor Robin Davie has been discontinued after the 67-year-old made contact with HM Coastguard.
The former BOC Challenge Around Alone Race has reported everything is well and is around 25 miles south west of the Isles of Scilly.
Davie had left the French port of Les Sables d’Olonne in his Rustler 36, C’est La Vie on 5 January 2019. He told his brother that he expected to be back in Falmouth by 8 January 2019 and to inform the UK Coastguard if he had not returned by then.
He had been in Les Sables d’Olonne refitting the yacht, which has a new mast and rigging, to take part in the Golden Globe Race 2022.
Davie, who has solo circumnavigated the world three times, was officially reported overdue by his brother on 9 January 2019.
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In a media release, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said due to the weather conditions, Davie had to tack further to the west and it had therefore taken much longer than he had hoped to reach the Isles of Scilly.
He had been out of radio contact range and without a mobile signal for quite some time but as soon as he sailed closer to land he heard the broadcast and contacted the Coastguard.
Dai Jones, Controller for HM Coastguard said: ‘We were concerned for the skipper’s safety and so we’re really pleased that he has been in contact to tell us that he is safe and well. Being able to broadcast continuously can pay dividends and in this case it really helped us to locate him.’
‘We had worked out that the sailor could be somewhere around the Isles of Scilly by considering the weather conditions and what passage he would have been likely to take. It really was a case of putting ourselves in the skipper’s shoes,’ added Jones.
11 January 2019
Concern is growing for British solo skipper Robin Davie, who has been reported overdue on a 300-mile voyage from France to Cornwall.
The seasoned offshore sailor left the French port of Les Sables d’Olonne in his Rustler 36, C’est La Vie on 5 January 2019. He informed his brother that he expected to be back in Falmouth by 8 January 2019.
Robin Davie has been preparing for the 2022 Golden Globe Race. Credit: Robin Davie/PPL/GGR
He had been in Les Sables d’Olonne refitting the yacht, which has a new mast and rigging, to take part in the Golden Globe Race 2022.
Davie, who has solo circumnavigated the world three times, was officially reported overdue on 9 January 2019.
Since then, Falmouth Coastguard has been broadcasting an all ships alert for the missing 67-year-old.
It is understood that Davie, who is from St Agnes in Cornwall, doesn’t have AIS or an EPIRB, and just a hand-held VHF radio. He does have a liferaft, complete with GPS and a spare VHF.
Davie, who was in the British Merchant Navy for 20 years, competed in the first BOC Challenge Around Alone Race in 1990, before making his second and third solo circumnavigations in the 1994 and 1998 BOC races.
Robin Davie was inspired to enter the Golden Globe Race after following Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s 1968-69 race. Credit: Robin Davie/PPL/GGR
During the 1994 race he was dismasted thousands of miles from Cape Horn and sailed under jury rig around the Cape to the Falkland Islands.
He had originally entered the 2018 Golden Globe Race, but had to defer his entry until 2022 after running out of time to complete preparations on C’est La Vie.
In the run up to the 2018 race, Yachting Monthly spoke to Davie as he tried to get his Rustler 36 ready.
‘The race is about the effort the person on board makes and their psychology, rather than the dollars spent on getting to the start line,’ he reflected.
‘I will be treating every problem as if it has a solution to be found. Things can go wrong no matter how many sea miles you have under your belt. The key is mindset. Don’t have great expectations and build yourself up so things can come crashing down.’