AN 82-year-old sailor who was rescued after a prolonged operation involving the UK and Norwegian coastguard has said he has been made homeless after his yacht sank.
Solo yachtsman Julian Mustoe said he was "baffled" when his boat Harrier of Down slipped beneath the waves as it was being towed to Bergen in Norway in the hours after his dramatic rescue.
Mr Mustoe, who previously sailed round the world in the yacht, was taken aboard a Norwegian coastguard cutter on Wednesday after raising the alarm when his vessel began drifting out of control.
He was located amid extreme weather conditions around 95 nautical miles from Lerwick in Shetland and 86 nautical miles from Norway. Despite being battered by with 23ft waves and gale-force winds, he said he was never in any danger and only suffered the "discomfort" of being cold and damp.
But now he has been left stranded after the boat where he had made his home for the past decade sank without trace.
Speaking from onboard the Norwegian coastguard rescue ship, he said: "I'm feeling quite despondent because I have lost my lovely boat.
"I'm on the coastguard ship waiting to get back to Norway, and this morning Harrier began to take on water, and then she sank.
"I don't know what happened. I have had her for ten years and have been sailing for 60, and have taken her right around the world.
"She has always been a wonderful boat, but something has gone badly wrong."
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