A solo sailor who was en route to Bermuda when his vessel suffered engine failure recalled the turbulent conditions he faced before being rescued by one of the island’s major delivery freighters.

Demetris Lappas, 53, said yesterday that he was thankful to everyone who went to his aid after he became unwell aboard the Alcyon Blue, which also sustained a damaged sail.

The Olympian was travelling from Antigua when he encountered difficulties about 115 miles southeast of Bermuda.

“I didn’t eat for five days,” he told The Royal Gazette shortly after he disembarked Marine & Ports pilot boat St George at the HM Customs Yacht Reporting Centre, Ordnance Island, in St George at dawn yesterday.

Mr Lappas, a father of three, said he left Antigua on February 2 for Bermuda.

He intended to travel onwards to the Azores and then return to his home country, Cyprus.

By his calculations, his vessel was expected to arrive to Bermuda on February 8 but midway through the journey, conditions changed.

He said: “About halfway into the trip there was no wind, the engine stopped and the boat slowed down. It was rough weather. It was really rough. The waves were really bad out there.”

Mr Lappas — who competed in windsurfing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and in 2000 in Sydney — said he spent his life savings to purchase the boat.

“It is very sad for me,” he said, as he was told by customs officials that it was unlikely that his vessel would be salvaged.

Customs officials assisted Mr Lappas with travel arrangements yesterday morning after he connected with his relatives.

The Department of Marine and Ports Services said in an incident report that on Saturday morning the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre received an e-mail from Mr Lappas on his 52ft sailboat.

On Sunday, further communications stated that the vessel had sustained sail damage in the midst of the continued severe weather, while Mr Lappas was suffering from dizziness and nausea owing to “diesel fuel contamination in the cabin area”.

The yacht also suffered a loss of electrical power thanks to engine and generator failures.

The centre said the solo sailor informed family members ashore — using a satellite communications terminal — of “worsening weather with storm force winds causing sail damage to the yacht's storm jib”.

As a result, the Alcyon Blue’s distress beacon was activated with the sailor seeking to abandon the vessel, which was about 115 miles southeast of the island at the time.

The merchant vessel Logos Hope — with 331 people on board — which was on its way to Bermuda from Trinidad & Tobago, went to Mr Lappas’s aid.

The cargo vessel Bermuda Islander, which left the island on Monday afternoon with nine crew, bound for the US, was also contacted by the centre and went to the sailboat’s location.

It was the freighter that arrived on the scene in the early hours of yesterday, but the captain elected to stand by the yacht to allow the sea state to improve and for the Logos Hope to also get closer to the area.

The centre said that at sunrise yesterday, both ships made multiple attempts to pull up alongside the sailboat in 20ft-plus waves.

Crew from the Bermuda Islander were finally able to pick up Mr Lappas at about 9am, Tuesday.

His physical condition was assessed by the crew and determined to be “uninjured”.

George Butterfield, the vice-president of Meyer Shipping, said yesterday: “The Safety of Life at Sea Convention requires captains to proceed at maximum speed and assist persons in distress, regardless of nationality or status.

“This obligation stems from longstanding maritime tradition as well as a legal responsibility.”

Mr Butterfield added this morning that the Bermuda Islander resumed its journey to Salem, New Jersey and will return to its normal schedule — sailing from Salem on Monday and arriving back to Bermuda on Thursday, February 19.

Meanwhile, Bermuda Radio launched a navigation warning to caution ships that the Alcyon Blue was abandoned and adrift southeast of Bermuda.