Evacuation after Goss knock -over

The Spirit of Mystery, knocked over by a freak wave late on Tuesday (GMT),is carrying on its voyage to Melbourne after the evacuation of crew member Mark Maidment who sustained a broken leg.

The crew had just got through two and a half days of stormy weather before the wave struck, knocking the boat on to its side and partially flooding the cabin. The wave washed away the life-raft and dinghy.

Said Goss: "We had just come out of a storm that had lasted for two and a half days and given us a right old pasting when we were hit by a freak wave. There was no warning, just a huge wall of water that smashed into the boat rolling her more than 90 degrees onto her side. There was carnage below with water everywhere, which got into the communications systems. The boat was fantastic though and I wouldn't have wanted to be in any other. She just shook herself off and came upright; but when she did, Mark's leg was broken."

Goss is continuing the voyage which has just a few hundred miles to go. The boat is due to arrive on the 9th or 10th of March.