Quéméré Rescued, Kiteboat Abandoned

As reported in Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic, French adventurer Anne Quéméré was forced to abandon her unprecedented attempt to sail solo from San Francisco to Tahiti aboard a vessel propelled only by a kiteboarding-style kite. She was successfully rescued Thursday by the Panama-bound, 985-ft container ship the Maersk Mytilini, roughly 1,700 miles south of Hilo, Hawaii.

"The Doldrums did not let me pass and this is not due to a lack of trying. Numerous times I compared myself to Don Quixote who fought windmills like me — gaining a few miles during the day to see them reversed at night." Problems with her solar charging system left her without power to run her navigation and communications gear, apart from her satphone, for the 48 hours preceding her call for rescue. In addition, her kite had a tear and a problem had developed with its control system.

"This first (attempt) on such a route proved that considerable research is needed in the maneuvring of kites before they can be used regularly on naval routes," says Quéméré. "We won’t see them flourish tomorrow on cargo ships or fishing boats because their use is too uncertain, especially in the calmer parts of the oceans such as the Doldrums."