Solo sailor Xavier Doerr rescued from ‘extreme’ conditions off Great Australian Bight

A young Australian sailor, injured and adrift for 24 hours in“extremely rough” conditions, has been rescued following two failed attempts.

A young Australian sailor attempting to circumnavigate the country solo has been rescued after a 24 hour effort off the Great Australian Bight.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (ASMA) reported receiving an emergency signal from the sailor about 5pm Friday.

Shortly after 5pm on Saturday, it was confirmed Xavier Doerr, 22, had been rescued by a bulk cargo carrier.

The young Gold Coast man had embarked on a circumnavigation of Australia in May, before activating his emergency beacon about 630km west of Kangaroo Island and 740km southeast of Esperance.

“Gold Coast sailor Xavier Doerr has been rescued and is currently being medically assessed aboard an Indonesian freighter,” his shore manager, Lee Randall, said on Saturday.

“It’s been a hell of a 24 hours. As most people know by now there’s been an air and sea rescue initiated down in South Australia.

Xavier Doerr had to suspend his trip after sustaining damage in Western Australia last month. Picture: Facebook/ The Little Aussie Lap.

Mr Doerr’s 6.5m yacht has been left adrift in the southern ocean, as the young man was brought aboard after two failed attempts.
“We lost communication with Xavier for an extended period of time yesterday afternoon... at that point in time he’d sustained some injuries and there was some water ingress into the boat and he genuinely feared for his safety,” Randall said earlier on Saturday.

Mr Doerr had recently been forced to suspend his circumnavigation on June 7 after his vessel sustained extensive damage of Western Australia’s coastline.

He resumed the journey just eight days ago, leaving Fremantle on June 29.

The Gold Coast man had been attempting to break Australia’s most difficult offshore sailing world record, according to his website, a solo, nonstop, unassisted circumnavigation while livestreaming the journey.

In a statement, ASMA said rescue aircraft from Perth and Melbourne remained in the area overnight, maintaining contact with Mr Doerr using VHF radio.

Two bulk carriers, Theodore JR and HSL Mexico, were diverted to the area.

A Royal Australian Air Force aircraft reached the vessel’s location on Saturday morning.

Aerial image of Solo sailor stuck in severe weather conditions off Great Australian Bight. Picture: Australian Maritime Safety Authority

“The Ship’s Masters will need to assess their ability to safely conduct a rescue in extremely rough weather conditions,” ASMA said.

“Weather conditions in the area are severe with winds estimated at 100-110 km per hour and seas reported to be 6m.”

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for the region on Friday, with “isolated destructive” wind gusts up to 125km forecast for Friday night and into early Saturday.

“This system is much stronger and is expected to make land later on Friday, then sweep across the southeast of Australia on Saturday,” BOM meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said on Friday.

There are many risks and hazards over the coming days associated with these weather fronts.”