British yachtsman Tony Bullimore, 67, reestablished contact with his team on Saturday after going 11 days without any communication, Australian media reported Sunday. His catamaran's communications equipment had failed on 7 November while he was crossing the Indian Ocean, having set out from Doha, Qatar.
Bullimore reached his wife, Lalel, by mobile phone after sailing close enough to shore to pick up a signal. Team spokesman Barry Pickthall said the call was kept short to save the phone's battery.
The Bristol-based sailor and a crew of four were bound for Hobart, Tasmania, where Bullimore planned to launch a solo circumnavigation record attempt. He aims to beat the existing mark of 71 days, 14 hours and 18 minutes, set in February 2005 by English sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur on a 27,000-nautical-mile course around the globe.
The voyage comes roughly a decade after Bullimore was rescued from the southern ocean in an operation that cost around 6 million Australian dollars (4.5 million US dollars), a dramatic survival story that drew worldwide attention.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.