Starving, hallucinating: Gold Coast skipper recalls dark side of record attempt
Starving and hallucinating: How a 21-year-old found himself alone at sea being battered by two-storey waves, with just a popular confectionary item to survive on.
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Starving, hallucinating, and struggling to stay awake on a barely there boat.
That is how one Gold Coast skipper finished his first attempt to sail solo around Australia.
Just days out from the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, 21-year-old Xavier Doerr hasn’t forgotten the memories of his last attempt to break the record for the fastest and smallest racing yacht to solo circumnavigate Australia without stopping.
It was June when an “almost cyclonic” storm caused destructive gale force winds and treacherous sea conditions that broke Doerr’s electronic system, forcing him to retire early from the campaign.
“I had to sail into the port of Gladstone with no sleep, no electronics, no navigation aid, limited food and I was facing extreme exhaustion,” Doerr said.
“There were waves coming over the boat that were larger than a two story house.
“Going for 72 hours without sleep left me exposed to hallucinations and sleep deprivation as I got the ship back into shore.
“I had hallucinations of other people being on the boat, I couldn’t distinguish if they were reall or not, it was hard to trust what I was actually interpreting when I was doing these things.
“You can’t trust your own mind.”
The little food Doerr did manage to get his hands on, was two cherished packets of M&M cookies.
“They were fantastic, in three days I had four litres of water and two packets of M&M cookies. That got me in (to shore).”
The current record is held by Lisa Blair, who competed the trip in 58 days, 2 hours, 25 minutes and 39 seconds, but Doerr wants to complete it in under 50.
And in preparation for his second attempt in May next year, the former The Southport School sailing captain will tackle his third 2022 Sydney to Hobart on Saturday, on board 80ft Maxi yacht Stefan Racing.
Doerr will sail with skipper and Australian great Grant Warrington, and said forecasts could result in record breaking conditions for the super maxis.
“The Sydney to Hobart is considered one of the hardest off-shore races in the world, and with the record race, it’s the equivalent of doing 13 Sydney to Hobarts non-stop, by yourself and unassisted.
“We’re expecting reaching and downwind conditions, and strong winds all the way to Hobart, which is very preferable.
“We’ll be sending it down huge waves, they’ll be mountains of spray coming on the bow and we’ll be going really fast.”
Doerr will continue to repair his boat out of the Gold Coast City Marina in Coomera, with help from the Gold Coast marine industry.
“I’m doing the project basically entirely with Gold Coast businesses and resources, and having the Gold Coast City Marina’s support has been amazing.”
Harrowing loss fuels skipper ahead of Sydney to Hobart
Memories of one of the most tragic Sydney to Hobart races in history still haunts Michael Spies. But the Gold Coast skipper has declared the leanings from every devastation have made he and his crew all the more equipped to succeed and survive.
Throughout 44 years taking on one of the most iconic sporting events on the Australian calendar, Spies has experienced many a triumph ahead of Maritimo’s Boxing Day voyage.
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Overall victories, race records and division championships are all accolades he can reflect on. Yet it is the 1998 disaster in which six people lost their lives that reminds him of one thing.
“Never take on nature, because nature and weather will always beat you,” he said.
On the second day of the showcase 24 years ago, severe weather conditions brought with it winds of around 65 knots. The storm caused five boats to sink, and took the lives of Phillip Charles Skeggs, Bruce Raymond Guy, John Dean, James Lawler, Michael Bannister and Glyn Charles.
Things have changed since then, Spies said. Preparation, equipment and safety measures had all evolved.
And the five-time world champion was adamant that for every loss suffered, key messages needed to be instilled ahead of every race’s launch.
“There’s been the highs and lows; the accolades of winning the race are great, but then we had the 1998 race and we lost some close friends,” Spies recalled prior to embarking from Southport Yacht Club on Friday.
“The sport’s certainly come a long way; we’ve learned from those tragedies, we’re safer than we’ve ever been, we’re more prepared than we’ve ever been.
“We as a fleet and a group of fellow yachtsmen are a lot more prepared. Any tragedy is compounded if you don’t learn something from it.
“It was a horrific place and it certainly changed the whole landscape of ocean racing worldwide.”
While Spies said it was too early to tell what weather conditions will lay before them, at this stage it appeared destined for a ”reasonably quick race” — a fast start, a slower middle phase, and a fast finish.
Among the vast changes which have been welcomed into sailing has been the development of “cutting edge” technology that Spies believes could be Maritimo’s secret weapon this year.
Spies, his crew and his boat have been the guinea pig test subjects for a new range of programming known as ‘Nemesis’, designed to provide real time feedback on weather and boat conditions to the crew.
“It’s like putting everything into a big hub and spitting it out intel in real time,” Spies said.
“All the boats have essentially got an instrument process; (but) it’s a lot quicker and giving us a lot more options.
“This has certainly been cutting edge. It’s quite interesting to see the various we can have with this, it’s certainly a marked improvement to what we had last year.
“That’s proving highly successful and that will hopefully give us hopefully better data than anyone else. It’s exciting times.”
Even after more than four decades taking on the Sydney to Hobart, with all the success he has had, Spies admits the occasion never feels any less special.
Challenges have continued throughout his tenure; in his own words “with no shops out there” whatever limited equipment and resources available a “MacGyver”-like creative mentality is needed to salvage breaks and issues.
One year, Spies recalled, a major rudder issue forced him to hang off the back of hte boat with a battery drill for hours to repair the damage.
But he said when he was out among the elements, away from civilisation and in the throes of competition, he said he had grown all too comfortable with the environment.
“It’s almost a relief when you’re out there. You get to do your job and you can do it uninterrupted,” Spies said.
“Don’t get me wrong the hype of the race and the crowds and the helicopters around is all part of it, and if anyone tells you they don’t get nervous they’d be telling a lie.
“But it’s good to find your own rhythm, get into your watch system and put into practice what you’ve been planning for 12 months.”
MEET THE REST OF THE MARITIMO CREW
Kendal Barry-Cotter
— Has competed in 11 Sydney to Hobart Races
— Comes into the 2022 showcase with 50 years of sailing experience
Stuart Graham
— Comes equipped with 20 years of racing six foot skiffs at Manly in Sydney
— Has competed in three Sydney Hobart Races
— Has two Gosford Lord Howe Races to his credit
— Has taken part in 10 Sydney to Gold Coast Races
Matthew Levings
— Makes his Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race debut on Boxing Day
— The bowman is a former Commonwealth Games competitor, having taken part in the 1500m freestyle at the 2014 Glascow games. He trained under super coach Denis Cotterell for years alongside controversial swimmer Sun Yang.
Neil Sherring
— Has competed in three Sydney to Hobart races, with his first being back in 1983.
— Has competed in 15 Brisbane to Gladstone, six Sydney to Mooloolaba, five Sydney to Gold Coast, eight Hamilton Island and four Gladstone to Hamilton Island races. He has also taken part in two Geelong race week’s, as well as one Kenwood Cup in Hawaii, Sydney to Lorde Howe Island, Brisbane to Lorde Howe Island and Kings Cup in Thailand.
Steven Jackson
— Has competed in three Sydney to Hobart races
— Jackson has challenged five Sydney to Gold Coast races, as well as being a two-time representative of the Team Dennis Connor America’s Cup team.
— Has competed in three Nippon Challenge America’s Cup teams.
— Two appearances at the fastnet Winfield, racing an 18 foot skiff in the Ultra 30 grandprix in the UK.
Peter Jones
— The Brisbane product has taken part in 25 Sydney to Hobart races thus far.
Rick Roberts
— Hailing from Brisbane, Rick Roberts has challenged 11 Sydney to Hobart races, as well as 30 events in Gladstone.
— He has three years of experience in professional sailing in America.
Ben Lockyer
— Comes into the team with 20 years of sailing experience in keelboats of up to 80 feet.
— Has competed in two Round Irelands and one Fastnet.
— Has contested multiple Gold Coast and Newcastle races.
Mike Hughes
— Coming all the way from Palmyra in Western Australia, Mike Hughes has battled for 16 Sydney to Hobart titles.
— Hughes has also competed in 12 Sydney to Gold Coast races.
Pete Britt
— Making his way to the Gold Coast from Forster NSW, Pete Britt has taken part in 15 Sydney to Hobart races.
— His greatest sailing achievement stands as line honours on Maritimo in the 2021 Brisbane to Gladstone showcase.
Peter Sheldrick
— Another out of town sailer, coming from Haberfield in Sydney, Peter Sheldrick has challenged 30 Sydney to Hobart races.
— He was the leading composite boat builder of the latest America’s Cup boats.
Murray Spence
— The Maritimo navigator hailing from the Whitsundays, Murray Spence is arguably one of the best in the world for his craft.
— Spence has been the boat captain and navigator for Alfa Romeo, and has logged more than 260,000 sea miles on sailing vessels.
— Has competed in 21 Sydney to Hobart races, 10 as a navigator.
— Has competed in three Middle Sea races, three Tokyo Guam races, four Transpac races and three Japan Cups.
— Also comes into the event with appearances in two Melbourne to Osaka double handed races, two Gotland Runt races, and one Admiral’s Cup, Hobart to Auckland and Carribean 600 apiece.
— Has also taken part in four Fastnet races.
Scott Kaufman
— The New Yorker has taken part in 16 Sydney to Hobart races, with a win and a line honour to his credit.
— Has competed in six Fastnet races and four Etchells NA wins.
— Kaufman was a former leading Naval Architect and a former Olympian.
Maritimo Stats and Facts
Length: 15.85m
Beam: 4.34m
Designer: Reichel Pugh USA (designers of Wild Oats IX )
Builder: Green Marine UK
Hull Material: Carbon Fibre/Nomex
Draft: 3.4m
Total Sail Area: 410-sqm
Total Displacement: 7800kg
Hull Weight: 1500 kg
Top Speed: 30 knots
Average Daily Run: 320 nautical miles per day.
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