MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. A severe storm in the Southern Ocean for the first time throughout the entire round-the-world journey has overturned Russian voyager Fyodor Konyukhov’s rowboat and has damaged it, his son and organizer of the expedition Oskar Konyukhov told TASS on Tuesday.
"After a day of good weather, the rowboat was hit by a storm, and the forecast did not suggest that we should worry a lot, although 40 knots [of wind speed] cannot be called comfortable for a rowboat," Oskar pointed out.
The voyager reported at around 22:17 p.m. that his rowboat had overturned, made a 360-degree turn but got back on even keel. According to the information, some solar panels were torn off along with the wind indicator, and there was no data about the direction and the wind strength.
By 2 a.m. Moscow Time, the wind had started dying down, but it is difficult to assess the total damage now. "We will have to wait for better weather in order to inspect the boat," he added.
Throughout the 117 days of the journey, the AKROS boat had never overturned. "Contact with the boat is being maintained, both antennas of the satellite phones are intact. We are receiving text messages. The Iridium 360 Rockstar tracking system is also functioning. Coordinates are being received automatically every two hours," he noted.
On March 23, Konyukhov managed to weather a force-12 storm, which battered his vessel in the Pacific Ocean.
Fyodor Konyukhov, a prominent Russian adventurer, set off on a round-the-world voyage in a rowboat from New Zealand’s port of Dunedin on December 6, 2018. The expedition to circle the globe will have three stages: Dunedin, New Zealand - Cape Horn, Chile; Cape Horn - Cape Leeuwin, Australia; and Cape Leeuwin - Port Dunedin. Konyukhov will have to row 27,000 km in total.
British boat designer Phil Morrison created Konyukhov’s AKROS vessel exclusively for the expedition. The nine-meter rowboat has watertight compartments capable of storing up food and three independent power generation systems, including solar, wind turbine and an innovative EFOY fuel cell power plant. The boat is also equipped with two satellite phones, a satellite tracker and several communication and navigation systems.
Konyukhov, 67, has completed five globetrotting missions, crossing the Atlantic 17 times and becoming the first Russian who climbed seven highest summits in six parts of the world, and also traveled to the North and South Poles. In 2007, Konyukhov circled the Southern Hemisphere in a sailboat dubbed the ‘Scarlet Sails’ through the waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The 102-day voyage did not involve port calls.