Solo sailor Xavier Doerr reunited with mum after blaming collision with sunfish for his scary ordeal

The young sailor rescued from treacherous conditions off the coast of KI has revealed it wasn’t the wild weather that brought him undone.

The young sailor rescued from treacherous conditions off the coast of Kangaroo Island has had an emotional reunion with his mum as he revealed what brought him undone.

“Nothing like a mother’s hug to make things feel so much better,” Xavier Doerr posted on Facebook after being reunited in Adelaide on Sunday.

Mr Doerr has also revealed it wasn’t the wild weather that brought his attempt at a record-breaking trip around Australia undone.

Instead, it was an unexpected collision with a gigantic fish.

“I was surfing down a wave and I collided with what I believe was a sunfish underwater,” Mr Doerr said outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Rescued sailor Xavier Doerr reunited in Adelaide with mum Kaitlin. Picture: The Little Aussie Lap / Facebook

“Basically I was a bit worried once I had that underwater collision.

“The wind and the waves I can deal with, and I did deal with. I’ve been in severe conditions for over 14 days.”

The impact nearly capsized Mr Doerr’s 6.5m sailing boat and sent him flying into the roof of his cabin, causing him back and neck injuries.

Sailor Xavier Doerr believes his boat collided with a sunfish. Picture: Stock.

Gold Coast sailor Xavier Doerr with the rescue helicopter in Port Lincoln. Picture: NINE NEWS

Gold Coast sailor Xavier Doerr with his rescuers aboard container ship Theodore JR. Picture: The Little Aussie Lap / Facebook

Shortly after, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority launched a rescue mission for the 22-year-old Gold Coast man, who was finally winched to the safety of a helicopter on Sunday morning.

“I’m feeling a lot better than I was 48 hours ago,” Mr Doerr said.

“It was a testing 24 hours for sure.

“I just feel so much better now that I had the ability to be rescued from that.”

Mr Doerr was pulled from the ocean on Saturday afternoon by the crew of international freight ship Theodore JR before he could eventually be collected by members of SA Ambulance’s special operations team.

“The crew of Theodore JR, the Phillipinos, they were amazing to come to my aid,” he said while wearing a pair of Crocs gifted to him by the crew.

Xavier Doerr standing at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, after being rescued at sea. Picture: Matt Loxton

Sailor Xavier Doerr outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, after being rescued at sea. Picture: Matt Loxton

“They handed me the Crocs and I happily accepted.

“I had to be approached four times by the cargo ship. We were in conditions with huge waves … it was an extremely testing rescue but I have to send my absolute thanks to AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Authority) for watching overhead and co-ordinating in Canberra and that crew of the Theodore because they managed to get me in safe.

“I was winched and had to climb up the ladder. I was put into the water at one point.

“I’m just very grateful for the amazing authorities that we have and the assistance of that international merchant ship.”

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has co-ordinated a medical evacuation of the sailor, Xavier Doerr, who was taken on board the diverted bulk carrier Theodore JR

With both feet firmly on dry land, Mr Doerr couldn’t express his gratitude enough.

“I want to say a huge thank you to AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Authority), to Canberra, to the South Australian Ambulance, to my team, who helped co-ordinate the rescue,” he said.

“It was extremely treacherous conditions and I’m very grateful to all the amazing people in the process that were able to do what they did to get me back.”

Mr Doerr underwent scans at the RAH on Sunday afternoon to determine the severity of the injuries sustained in the collision.

“We’re just ruling out any issues with my neck and back after I had that collision when I made contact with the underwater object. I did suffer that strong blow to my head and neck so we just need to rule out that I won’t have any injuries after that.”

Mr Doerr’s mother arrived in Adelaide on Sunday night.

“I wasn’t able to speak to her until this afternoon (Sunday) because I’ve had no outside communication.

“I was very grateful to be able to speak to my mum and my family and I love them very much,” he said ahead of their reunion.

“I definitely missed my family while I was out there, my close friends.”

A rescue effort was launched after Gold Coast sailor Xavier Doerr activated an emergency beacon off South Australia on July 8. Picture: Facebook/ The Little Aussie Lap.

A rescue effort was launched after Gold Coast sailor Xavier Doerr activated an emergency beacon off South Australia on July 8. Picture: Facebook/ The Little Aussie Lap.

Rescue paramedic Clinton Daniels, who winched Mr Doerr to safety, said he was lucky to escape with minor injuries

“He got into some serious difficulty with extreme weather in the Australian Bight,” Mr Daniels said.

“From what he’s told me about the events that happened, he’s pretty sore but he’s actually quite lucky he isn’t more severely injured.

“He was rather happy to see us … very big smiles from memory.”

Mr Doerr said rescue paramedics like Mr Daniel were “angels of the sky”

“Clinton is an amazing guy and I thank him so much for jumping out of that helicopter to come and winch me up,” he said.

“I have the utmost respect for people in his line of work and I thanked him profusely.

“I just send my absolute thanks to Clinton and the ambulance service.”

Despite the terrifying ordeal, Mr Doerr said he would be back on the water soon.

“The yacht is sailing towards Adelaide at the moment and hopefully we’ll be able to recover it,” he said.

“I’ll definitely be back out sailing again one day soon. I’m not sure if it will be in that boat but I’m very grateful.”

Mr Doerr was attempting Australia’s most difficult offshore sailing world record – a solo, non-stop, unassisted, circumnavigation of Australia in a 21ft high performance carbon fibre race yacht.

The 22-year-old departed Gold Coast in May 2022 on what he dubbed his “Little Aussie Lap”.

Everything was going smoothly until last month when he struck bad weather off the coast of WA.

His yacht had to be intercepted and towed into Fremantle Sailing Club for assessment and repairs.

It meant his dream of breaking the record was over, but he set his sights on a different feat.

After three weeks completing repairs and undergoing a medical examination he set back off from Fremantle on June 29, looking to claim the record for youngest sailor and smallest vessel to have completed the circumnavigation.

Originally published as Solo sailor Xavier Doerr reunited with mum after blaming collision with sunfish for his scary ordeal