Hurricane Fabian has dealt a devastating blow to around the world solo sailor Tim Kent.

In a cruel twist of fate, his beloved boat, Everest Horizontal - in which he has invested almost his entire fortune and on which he completed the epic Around Alone Race earlier this year, even enduring the extreme weather around the notorious Cape Horn - is currently lying battered and broken on the rocks in front of Ocean Sails, St.George's as a result of Friday's massive storm.

The loss of the boat would be a crushing blow in emotional as well as financial terms for the American, who resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kent gave up his job, borrowed $50,000 from his ex-wife and sold all of his worldly possessions just to purchase it in the first place.

The latest drama is not the only misfortune to have affected the vessel in the last few months.

In June, when Kent was competing in the second leg of a race to Rhode Island along with his sailing partner, fellow American Richard McKenna, Everest Horizontal capsized 115 miles north-northwest of the Island leaving the two men trapped underneath.

Although both escaped from the accident relatively unscathed and were recovered just before dark by the crew of the Nordic Empress, it took an extensive rescue operation to recover the boat, the interior of which was completely gutted.

The 50-year-old, who could not afford to insure his pride and joy, has been in the United States ever since, attempting to raise the money with which to restore it to its former glory.

According to his fellow Around Alone competitor, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute(BUEI) Director Alan Paris, who helped coordinate the first rescue effort, the latest damage is extensive and he questioned the wisdom of any attempt to restore the wreckage.

"It is a sad, ignominious end for a world-girdling warrior," he said.

"Both rudders have been snapped off and there are many gouges in the carbon fibre which go right into the core of the boat. I probably would not call it a write-off but this is definitely one final nail in its coffin. I do not know whether it is worth salvaging to be perfectly honest."

Paris, who in May this year became the first Bermudian to complete the Around Alone in his boat BTC Velocity, described just how Everest Horizontal came to be in such a sorry state.

"It was moored about 200 yards off Ordnance Island to the east. It broke off its moorings and then was dragged into that area," said Paris.

"The floating ferry dock then came free and collided with it, turning it 180 degrees. The dock then kept going and the whole thing ended up at the East End Mini Yacht Club. It was pretty ugly down there."

The BUI director revealed that he had been in contact with a "downcast" Kent yesterday morning and that the cash-strapped American was now unsure as to how to proceed.

Meanwhile, the boat in which Paris himself navigated the world, BTC Velocity, which has been resting on wooden supports in the car park of the BUEI since June, coped well with the violent winds, much to the surprise and understandable relief of her owner.

"The boat is perfect which is unbelievable. I would have bet a lot of money it would not have been standing today because sitting on a cradle in the middle of a parking lot is not exactly the best place for it," he said.

"I tied it down well but it is very difficult to work out how to tension all the ropes with the winds coming from three different directions.

"The wooden supports that it is sitting on have moved so the boat will have to be jacked up and replaced. But other than that it is fine and I count myself very lucky."