Finnish solo sailor Ari Känsäkoski safely made landfall in Durban, South Africa, on 16 January, 25 days and 1,600 miles after dismasting in the remote Indian Ocean.
Känsäkoski, who was competing in the Global Solo Challenge – the single-handed ‘pursuit’ style non-stop around the world race – was dismasted on his Class 40 Fuji on the night of 21 December in the Roaring Forties.
He was sailing in the Indian Ocean at a latitude of over 41° south, when the D1 lower diagonal shroud failed after shearing off at the tip-cup. Känsäkoski dropped all sails, hoping to secure the mast at first light by rigging a Dyneema replacement D1 or similar, but in 20 knot winds the boat’s violent rolling under bare poles caused the deck-stepped mast to buckle, breaking just above the first set of spreaders, and collapsing partially on deck and overboard in the middle of the night.
Fortunately Känsäkoski was not injured, there was no damage to the hull, and he was able to secure the mast against the boat.
At the time, he was approximately 1,000 miles south of Madagascar, 1,200 miles from continental Africa and 1,400 miles from Cape Town. The nearest land was Iles Crozet, some 300 miles away, but these remote islands have no shore facilities that could have assisted in making a repair.
At daylight Känsäkoski determined that he did not require assistance and, after waiting for a suitable weather window, was able to retrieve the top section onto the deck, using deck winches and an outrigger to create a crane to lift the mast aboard. He then built a jury rig which allowed him to hoist his storm sails with the outrigger, while the broken mast remained lashed to the deck.
Due to challenging weather conditions, and being in the full flow of an easterly-flowing eddy of the Agulhas Current, the skipper headed immediately north, in consultation with his routing team. However, this rapidly depleted Känsäkoski’s already limited fuel resources, and on Christmas Day 2023 MRCC Reunion broadcast a message to nearby vessels requesting refuelling assistance.
The following day
