Irishman Enda O'Coineen's attempt to sail solo and non-stop around the world has ended after his boat's mast broke in high winds south of New Zealand.
O'Coineen was in 15th place in the Vendée Globe race after 56 days and over 24,000km of sailing but he is now making his way to New Zealand on motor power.
The Galway man expressed his sadness at the end of the adventure but said that he was left with no choice but to jettison the mast of his Kilcullen Voyager-Team Ireland craft after his autopilot malfunctioned in in a sudden gale.
Speaking to the race office, O'Coineen said: "I was caught a little bit unawares. I was in 20-25 knots of breeze and a very vicious 35-knot squall came through and the self-steering malfunctioned just at the wrong moment.
"I did an involuntary gybe and then a gybe back. The boat was out of control and I was caught without the runner properly on and the mast snapped. I have to laugh because if I don't I will cry.
"The mast came clean off at the deck and in fact it was intact. But the whole rig went over the side. I had the difficult decision to make of whether to try and save the rig or whether to save the hull of the boat.
"I thought of safety first. I cut the rig free from the boat. I was worried that the stump of the rig would hole the boat. The seas were pretty wild. There was a big sea running. I cut the entire rig free. I am mastless, the deck was holed.
"It is not a happy situation but there it is, you roll the dice. That is the risk you take. I am devastated. Things were going quite well. I was in good shape. Having got this far I felt we could handle anything. There was just that little malfunction of the self-steering that set a whole train in motion. I have to accept responsibility.
"What happens, happens. Look, you have to be philosophical. This sort of sailing is living on the edge. I have been doing that for 57 days and as the fella says if you are living on the edge you are taking up too much space. I was taking up too much space on the edge.
"Ironically, I had just done a little interview with myself for New Year. I celebrated with a small bottle of champagne.
"My alter personality asked me about my New Year's resolution. And my New Year's resolution was to take less risk with my life."
