Solo sailor stranded in rough seas for 24 hours, Xavier Doerr, rescued off of South Australian coast

A young Australian attempting to sail around Australia solo has finally been rescued after a 24-hour emergency operation.

Sailing in a 6.5-metre long vessel, 22-year-old Xavier Doerr, was smashed by 110km/h winds during severe weather in the Great Australian Bight before he triggered his emergency beacon at about 5pm on Friday.

He was located by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to be about 630km west of South Australia’s Kangaroo Island and about 720km east of Esperance, southern West Australia.

The vessel was located by an aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force on Saturday morning after two bulk carriers, the Theodore JR and HSL Mexico, were relocated to the area.

He was safely brought aboard the Theodore JR at about 6pm on Saturday after two prior attempts to save the Gold Coast man failed.

Mr Doerr’s shore manager, Lee Randall said communication with the sailor had been lost for ‘an extended period of time’ on Friday afternoon.

‘At that point in time he’d sustained some injuries and there was some water ingress into the boat and he genuinely feared for his safety,’ Randall said earlier on Saturday. 

Mr Randall announced the sailors safety shortly after he was rescued by a coordinated air and sea rescue effort.

‘Gold Coast sailor Xavier Doerr has been rescued and is currently being medically assessed aboard an Indonesian freighter,’ he said.

‘It’s been a hell of a 24 hours. As most people know by now there’s been an air and sea rescue initiated down in South Australia.’

AMSA confirmed weather conditions in the area were ‘severe with winds estimated at 100-110km per hour and seas reported to be 6m’.

The area had been issued a severe weather warning by the Bureau of Meteorology on Friday with wind gusts up to 125km forecast for Friday night and into early Saturday.

A young Australian has been saved on Saturday night after spending 24 hours at sea in the Great Australian Bight and two rescue attempts failed

Mr Doerr started his journey in the Gold Coast’s Moreton Bay Marine Park on May 4, with hopes to complete ‘Australia’s toughest offshore challenge’ while live streaming.

He was attempting to break the record for a solo, unassisted and nonstop circumnavigation around Australia before his ship was severely damaged off the coast of Perth on June 7.

His hull had been punctured and his sail had been torn to shreds, forcing him to dock in Fremantle for several weeks.

‘I’m working as hard as I can to get back out on the water as soon as possible,’ Mr Doerr told Seven at the time.

He left Fremantle dock on June 29 and set his sights to travel past South Australia and round Tasmania, bypassing the Tasman Strait, and up the east coast back to the Moreton Bay Marine Park.

He was saved by the crew of an Indonesian bulk carrier, Theodore JR, who diverted course to intercept Mr Doerr’s emergency beacon that was used on Friday at about 5pm