A British sailor competing in the Volvo Ocean Race who fell overboard on Monday has now been declared “lost at sea”.

John Fisher, originally from Southampton but resident in Adelaide in Australia, was one of the crew members on Hong Kong challenger Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag.

The 47-year-old went overboard at around 2pm BST on Monday afternoon, 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn in the Southern Ocean. The wind in the area at the time was a strong 35-knot westerly and the water temperature was 9C.

Fisher was on watch and wearing survival gear when he went overboard, race organisers said.

The Scallywag team conducted an “an exhaustive search for several hours in extremely challenging weather conditions” but were unable to recover the yachtsman, according to a statement released by the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday morning.