OSLO, Norway -- Water crashed onto the deck of the ABN AMRO
TWO as the winds kicked up and the seas got rough.
Suddenly, Hans Horrevoets went missing. Skipper Sebastien Josse
shouted, "Where's Hans? Where's Hans?" and screamed the words
sailors dread: "Man overboard!"
What ensued was a harrowing attempt to rescue Horrevoets. The crewmen recounted what happened on a conference call Tuesday, saying this would be the first and only time they would answer questions about the dramatic events aboard their boat in the seventh leg of the around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race.
ABN AMRO TWO was about 1,300 miles off England last Thursday, sailing in 16-foot waves and strong winds, when the 70-foot carbon
fiber yacht nose-dived into a wave. The 32-year-old Horrevoets was
trimming a spinnaker when he was swept overboard.
"We did a nose dive, and after the wave, Hans was not on
board," Josse said.
After Josse alerted everyone that Horrevoets was missing, the
crew went into action, tossing life buoys and markers into the
water, while fighting to slow the yacht that was hurdling downwind
in 28 mph winds.
Navigator Simon Fisher was below, keeping track of Horrevoets'
last known position with electronic positioning systems.
On deck, the sailors were wrestling with enormous sails, trying
to get them down. The crew had the boat turned around in minutes,
and motored against the strong wind and waves toward the Dutch
sailor.
The deck was in chaos, covered with downed sails and ropes. The
crew members were focused on one thing: rescuing their teammate.
"It completely blew me away how professional this team was,"
Fisher said.
After about 40 minutes, they found him and managed to pull him
aboard. But he was unconscious, and they couldn't revive him.
Josse said Horrevoets wasn't wearing a lifejacket or a harness
attached to the boat, but was about to put on one.
"It was changing very quickly," Josse said of the worsening
weather. "One by one we were going below to get our harnesses."
The ordeal wasn't over.
Three days later, on Sunday, ABN AMRO TWO received a distress
call from rival yacht movistar of Spain, which was in danger of
sinking from a leaking keel joint.
Once again, ABN AMRO TWO turned around to attempt a rescue.
"As soon as I heard the call I just wanted to make sure those
guys were safe," Fisher said.
ABN AMRO TWO approached movistar in the heavy seas, and
transferred its 10 crew by life raft.
"I don't think I've seen 10 happier guys in my life," Fisher
said.
After the rescue, movistar skipper Bouwe Bekking said, "We all
realized that turning around had been a very hard call for them,
and hopefully they can find a little comfort that they have saved
10 lives."
Horrevoets' body was transferred at sea Monday to the Dutch
frigate HNLMS Van Galen for transport home, and a funeral on
Saturday.
ABN AMRO TWO finished the leg, late Monday, at Portsmouth,
England, in sixth place, last of the remaining boats.
Hundreds of people, including the other Volvo Ocean Race crews,
gathered on the wharf for the arrival. At first, they erupted into
cheers and applause, before falling silent and watching wordlessly
for about 30 minutes as the crew moored their boat and went ashore.
"We all knew it would be hard to arrive at the dock," Fisher
said.
ABN AMRO said it hasn't decided whether the No. 2 boat will
complete the remaining legs in the race, which ends on Goteborg,
Sweden, in mid-June.