Comment A French sailor trapped under an overturned sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean used an air bubble to stay alive until he was rescued 16 hours later, according to Spanish coast guard officials. The sailor, who has been identified by Spanish media as Laurent Camprubi, sent out a distress signal on Monday when his sailboat, the Jeanne SOLO Sailor, capsized about 14 miles off the coast of Spain’s Sisargas Islands. A dramatic video of the recovery shows a Spanish search and rescue diver pounding the bottom of the boat, listening for signs of life. After being rescued on Tuesday, Camprubi, 62, said he managed to survive thanks to an air bubble, according to the Spanish coast guard and media. The sailor said he was shocked to realize the extent of the damage to his boat – a shattered mast, damaged jib, keel and most equipment gone. “I couldn’t understand how I was able to survive,” Camprubi, from Marseille, told Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia. “The conditions were very adverse.” B. couple lost during sailing trip found safe, Coast Guard says Camprubi set sail on his 40-foot boat on Sunday from the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, according to Reuters. He was competing in a qualifying race for the upcoming Route du Rhum transatlantic solo sailing competition, which takes place every four years. He had arrived on Monday in Fisterra in the Western Spain, where he encountered strong winds and three meter waves and soon realized that his boat had lost its keel, a beam that runs in the middle of the boat, he said in the interview with La Voz de Galicia. “I was trying to pull in the mainsail when the boat started to list,” he told the paper. “So without thinking about it, I went in and within 15 seconds, the boat had capsized.” In a rescue mission that has been described as “on the brink of impossible”, rescue crews battled rough seas. Vicente Cobelo, a member of the port’s special operations team, told laSexta television that when the rescuer knocked on the boat on Monday night to see if there were any survivors, he got a response. “That’s when we knew there was someone down there,” he said. But the waters were too rough to attempt a rescue. So the team had to wait until the next morning to try again. While Camprubi waited for help, he said he used the air bubble to breathe and tried not to panic. He said The voice of Galicia this it was the thought of never seeing his wife and children again that helped him survive the ordeal. He added that the air bubble was about 27 inches long on Monday, but shrank drastically overnight. By Tuesday, the water had filled and he knew he was running out of time. But he remained calm, he said. “I never panicked,” he told La Voz de Galicia. “I tried to see the reality and find solutions. I was afraid of never seeing my children again.” On Tuesday, two divers swam under the vessel to free the sailor, who was wearing a survival suit and submerged up to his knees in water, Coast Guard officials said. Compello, the Coast Guard member, told reporters when divers approached the boat, the sailor jumped into the icy water and swam under the boat to the surface. “On his own initiative, he entered the water and dived freely, helped by the divers who had to pull him out, because it was difficult for him to get out in his survival suit,” Compello told laSexta TV station. Shortly after noon on Tuesday, rescue crews were seen on video pulling him to safety. Camprubi, who is an experienced sailor and has participated in many local and international races, told La Voz de Galicia that the experience made him decide that he will no longer compete professionally. “I don’t want to risk my life anymore,” he said. “I just want to take care of my family.”
