According to their accounts, the wind had shifted this week to the west and had the boats rocketing downwind toward the east in strong winds and giant seas. The boats were hitting speeds of 30 miles-per-hour and regularly making erratic changes in direction to sail over the top of waves. Under a pitch black sky, 5 of the 10 crewmembers aboard ABN AMRO TWO were hanging on and adjusting their sails when a wall of water took Horrevoet, who was trimming one of the sails, over the side. The boat was covering nearly a half a nautical mile per minute at those speeds, leaving Horrevoets almost 10 miles behind by the time the crew took the sails down, the engine turned on and turned around to find him. "The crew deployed three man overboard devices," Hindley said. "They spotted him after 40 minutes." The equipment that helped them find Horrevoets consisted of an inflatable life ring and a smoke and light unit Sailors used a GPS locator and the ship's navigation computer to retrace their path. Hindley said that turning around and eventually finding Horrevoets in such a heavy sea at night required miraculous skill. See: < http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/sports/18cnd-sailor.html?ei=5094&en=b15ffdc 9cb75539e&hp=&ex=1148011200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print > You may have to register with the NY Times - it is innocuous. Ron Rogers