Update #2 : Drifting Yacht & Dead German Sailor First Sighted by Clipper Round the World Racers

sayo2A week ago, we posted about the corpse of a German sailor aboard the yacht SAYO, a Jeanneau Sun Magic 44, which was found adrift off the Philippines on around the end of February.  The body was described as “mummified,” leading to speculation as to how long the sailor, identified as Manfred Fritz Bajorat, 59, had been dead.   A few days later, an autopsy performed in the Philippines concluded that Bajorat had died of a heart attack and had only been dead about seven days. Now, based on a report from the Clipper Round the World Race, the autopsy is in error. One of the race’s boats, LMAX Exchange, spotted the yacht dismasted and adrift on January 31st, about 650 NM east of Philippines and 470 NM west of Guam. A crew member swam out and boarded the boat and found the body of the lone sailor in an advanced stage of decay. A video of the discovery is below after the page break.

From a statement by Clipper Round the World:

After liaising with the US Coast Guard in Guam on the finding and location, and Falmouth Coast Guard, the team was instructed to carry on racing as it could provide no further assistance, while USCG Guam took over the investigation. Clipper Race Director Justin Taylor also notified the German Embassy in London, who informed the German Police and Coast Guard, who were then able to trace the sailor’s next of kin via the boat registration details provided by the team….

Whilst it is necessary to explain whenever one of our Clipper Race teams stops racing, it was out of respect that we chose not to publicise the full details of the finding. We hoped to avoid causing unnecessary alarm within the international sailing community by announcing the death of a then unknown sailor.

As a company, we also felt it was inappropriate to create a news story out of such tragic circumstances, plus the experience was quite distressing for the crew member who went aboard, who does not wish to talk publicly about it.

We feel desperately saddened for Mr Bajorat’s family who have now been subjected to the publication of graphic images. Our thoughts remain as ever with them.

New Video Captures Moment Yacht Crew Member Discovers Mummified Sailor

Thanks to Brian for pointing out the Clipper statement.

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Update #2 : Drifting Yacht & Dead German Sailor First Sighted by Clipper Round the World Racers — 3 Comments