Laurent Bourgnon of Switzerland
Leading Swiss yachtsman Laurent Bourgnon was reported missing by authorities in French Polynesia yesterday after a diving incident. The Papeete rescue center in Tahiti said the 49-year-old Bourgnon, who twice won the Route du Rhum trans-
Atlantic sailing race, was diving on his own. Crew members and passengers of the boat alerted emergency services on Wednesday when he did not return.
Marie Baville, the cabinet director for the head of Polynesia’s governing council, told The Associated Press that Bourgnon organized the trip with tourists on his boat, which was anchored in the Toau atoll, about 400 kilometers from Tahiti in the Tuamotu Archipelago, when the incident happened. “This is not a particularly dangerous area,” Baville said.
Bourgnon, whose brother Yvan this week completed a sail around the world on a 20-foot (six-meter) boat without on-board accommodation, is one of the most accomplished sailors of his generation.
Yvan Bourgnon said he will join the research crew “to look for my brother night and day, as long as there will be hope. Laurent is a fighter, I know he can hold out several days adrift in the open sea.” AP
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