A British sailor competing in the Volvo Ocean Race who fell overboard on Monday has now been declared “lost at sea”.

John Fisher, originally from Southampton but resident in Adelaide in Australia, was one of the crew members on Hong Kong challenger Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag.

The 47-year-old went overboard at around 2pm BST on Monday afternoon, 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn in the Southern Ocean. The wind in the area at the time was a strong 35-knot westerly and the water temperature was 9C.

Fisher was on watch and wearing survival gear when he went overboard, race organisers said.

The Scallywag team conducted an “an exhaustive search for several hours in extremely challenging weather conditions” but were unable to recover the yachtsman, according to a statement released by the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday morning.</s>A British sailor competing in the Volvo Ocean Race who was swept overboard on Monday has now been declared “lost at sea”.

A British sailor competing in the Volvo Ocean Race who was swept overboard on Monday has now been declared “lost at sea”.

The 47-year-old was swept overboard at around 2pm BST on Monday afternoon, 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn. The wind in the area at the time was a strong 35-knot westerly and the water temperature was 9C. Fisher was on watch and wearing survival gear when he went overboard, race organisers said.

The Scallywag team conducted an “an exhaustive search for several hours in extremely challenging weather conditions” but were unable to recover the yachtsman, according to a statement released by the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday morning. Mr Fisher was taking part in his first Volvo Ocean Race, a 45,000 nautical mile race around the world. The teams were on leg seven from Auckland, New Zealand, to Iajai, Brazil, when Mr Fisher went missing.

The rest of Scallywag's crew was unharmed and were helping coordinating a rescue effort with Chilean search and rescue authorities. “This morning I am extremely sad to inform you that one of our sailors, John Fisher, from Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, is now presumed to have been lost at sea,” the statement read. “This is heart-breaking for all of us. As sailors and race organisers losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don’t ever want to contemplate. We are devastated and our thoughts are with John’s family, friends and teammates.”

A ship in the area has been diverted towards the site of the incident, but at current speeds it remains over a day away. “With the rest of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet approximately 200 miles downwind, sending them back upwind to assist, against gale to storm force winds, was not a viable option,” the statement continued.

“Given the cold water temperature and the extreme sea state, along with the time that has now passed since he went overboard, we must now presume that John has been lost at sea.

“All of us here at the Volvo Ocean Race organisation send our heartfelt condolences out to John’s family, his friends and his teammates and we will do everything in our power to support them in this very difficult time.”

Scallywag’s 65ft yacht has now resumed sailing in a north-easterly direction and is battling against deteriorating conditions, with “severe” weather forecast for Tuesday. “The crew is, of course, emotionally and physically drained after what they have just experienced,” the statement added. “Our sole focus now is to provide all the support and assistance that we can to the team. We are sure that there will be many questions about how one of our sailors was lost overboard yesterday. We can address those after the team has been fully debriefed. Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to John’s family and the entire Scallywag team.” Mr Fisher is an experienced big boat sailor who is sailing his first Volvo Ocean Race, according to the team's website.

The Race fleet set off from Auckland on March 18 on the toughest stretch of the around-the-world race. The 8,700-mile (14,075 km) leg of the race takes the yachts on a three-week voyage across inhospitable waters from New Zealand to Cape Horn and then up South America's eastern coast to the Brazilian city of Itajai. The 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race is the longest in the competition's 44-year history, stretching over eight months and 45,000 nautical miles around the globe and ending in The Hague in the Netherlands in late June.</s>An Adelaide-based sailor who fell overboard during a round-the-world yacht race is now presumed to have been lost at sea.

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag crew member John Fisher fell overboard about 2,300 kilometres west of Cape Horn, off the coast of Chile, at about 01:00pm UTC.

Mr Fisher's team conducted an extensive search for several hours during stormy conditions, but were unable to recover him.

"Given the cold water temperature and the extreme sea state, along with the time that has now passed since he went overboard, we must now presume that John has been lost at sea," Volvo Ocean Race president Richard Brisius said in a statement.

"As sailors and race organisers, losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don't ever want to contemplate.

"We are devastated and our thoughts are with John's family, friends and teammates."

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag said they did everything they could to recover Mr Fisher, but made the "difficult decision" to head for landfall due to worsening conditions and nightfall approaching.

"Witty and the Scallywag crew have been battling extremely treacherous conditions in the Southern Ocean and this tragedy is heartbreaking," the team's owner said in a statement.

Mr Fisher, a 47-year-old British citizen who lived in Adelaide, was a member of the local Christies Sailing Club, which described Mr Fisher as a "treasured member of our family".

"John came to our club around 10 years ago and immediately injected his passion for the sport of sailing which was picked up by all of our sailing members, especially our juniors," the club said in a statement.

Christies Sailing Club said Mr Fisher had raced in "almost every major regatta around the globe", but that the Volvo Ocean Race was his holy grail.

"He told us that he used to watch the Volvo (Whitbread, as it was formally known) leave Southampton from where he grew up and thought, 'One day I will do that race'."</s>British sailor John Fisher has been presumed lost at sea after falling overboard during stormy conditions in the Volvo Ocean Race on Monday.

There had been dwindling hopes of rescuing the 47-year-old after he fell over the side of the Team Sun Hung Kai yacht at around 2pm and roughly 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn.

The chances of finding him have now evaporated, with organisers of the world's most gruelling offshore race declaring Fisher lost in a statement on Tuesday morning.

Volvo Ocean Race president Richard Brisius said: 'John Fisher is now presumed to have been lost at sea.

'This is heart-breaking for all of us. As sailors and race organisers losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don't ever want to contemplate. We are devastated and our thoughts are with John's family, friends and teammates.'

The 45,000-nautical mile Volvo Ocean Race is considered the 'Everest of sailing'. Fisher, who is from Southampton but had been living in Australia, disappeared overboard in one of the remotest stretches of ocean in the world on the leg seven race from New Zealand to Brazil.

There was a strong 35-knot wind at the time of the incident and water temperature of 9C, but failing light and the sea state crippled the extensive search effort.

Brisius added: 'Given the cold water temperature and the extreme sea state, along with the time that has now passed since he went overboard, we must now presume that John has been lost at sea.

'All of us here at the Volvo Ocean Race organisation send our heartfelt condolences out to John's family, his friends and his teammates and we will do everything in our power to support them in this very difficult time.'</s>John Fisher is presumed lost at sea after going overboard off the coast of Chile

Hopes of finding Fisher were fading last night after he fell overboard west of Chile.

Fisher was taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race and had reached the Southern Ocean just west of Cape Horn on Monday afternoon.

The Brit, who was living in Adelaide, Australia was given little chance of surviving due to the freezing conditions.

And a new statement from the Volvo Ocean Race has declared the 47-year-old lost at sea.

A statement from Richard Brisius, the President of the Volvo Ocean Race read: “This morning I am extremely sad to inform you that one of our sailors, John Fisher, from Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, is now presumed to have been lost at sea.

“This is heart-breaking for all of us. As sailors and race organisers losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don’t ever want to contemplate. We are devastated and our thoughts are with John’s family, friends and teammates.</s>Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag during leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag during leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race.

DETERIORATING WEATHER FORCED a Volvo Ocean Race yacht to abandon its search for a British crew member washed overboard in the hostile Southern Ocean yesterday, with organisers admitting the man is now “presumed to have been lost at sea”.

John Fisher went missing from the SHK/Scallywag on Monday some 2,250 kilometres (1,400 miles) west of Cape Horn on the tip of South America.

Fisher was on watch and wearing survival gear when he went overboard amid gale force winds and water temperatures estimated at nine degrees celsius.

Scallywag searched the sea for almost 12 hours but failed to find him and was forced to head for land as nightfall descended and conditions worsened.

“This morning I am extremely sad to inform you that one of our sailors, John Fisher, from Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, is now presumed to have been lost at sea,” Richard Brisius, the President of the Volvo Ocean Race said in a statement.

“This is heart-breaking for all of us. As sailors and race organisers losing a crew member at sea is a tragedy we don’t ever want to contemplate. We are devastated and our thoughts are with John’s family, friends and teammates.”

Organisers also said a ship that was within 400 miles of the accident site was diverted to look for Fisher and Chilean maritime rescue authorities were attempting to contact other vessels for help.

The six other vessels in the Volvo fleet — including Turn The Tide On Plastic featuring Irish Olympian Annalise Murphy — were unable to assist because they were 200 miles downwind and battling severe weather when Fisher went overboard.

The rest of Scallywag’s crew were reported to be safe.

Fisher is an Australian-based Briton who belonged to Christies Sailing Club in Adelaide, which opened its doors Tuesday for his friends to comfort each other.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Kirsten, Ryan and Amy. No words can express our sympathy and pain,” the club said in a Facebook post.

The Race fleet set off from Auckland on 18 March on the toughest stretch of the around-the-world epic.

The 14,075 kilometre leg of the race takes the yachts on a three-week voyage across inhospitable waters from New Zealand to Cape Horn and then up South America’s eastern coast to the Brazilian city of Itajai.

The 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race is the longest in the competition’s 44-year history, stretching over eight months and 45,000 nautical miles around the globe and ending in The Hague in the Netherlands in late June.

The race has already been marred by tragedy, when Vestas 11th Hour Racing collided with a trawler on its way to Hong Kong, killing a fisherman.

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Chilean search and rescue authorities declare that a crewman who fell overboard from a competitor vessel is lost at sea.