He dreamt for 30 years of contesting the Sydney to Hobart but Christopher Opielok's race lasted only about 20 hours.
The German's TP52 Rockall was one of three boats in the fleet of 102 to retire from the 2017 race on Wednesday morning.
Rockall is heading for calmer waters on the Victorian coast after its rudder broke 60 nautical miles south of Eden.
Jazz Player and Wots Next pulled out in the afternoon as supermaxi Wild Oats XI continued to chip away at line honours frontrunner LDV Comanche's lead.
Jazz Player was forced to quit when its UHF radio stopped working at Green Cape and Wots Next retired with a broken rudder.
Meanwhile, Opt2go Scamp is repairing rotor damage at Eden but will continue to Hobart.
It was another case of bad luck for Opielok, who once lived in Perth, after a mishap with an earlier Rockall seven years ago.
"It got here late by cargo shipment, it got delayed, so we missed that one in 2010," Opielock told AAP this month.
His enthusiasm to do the race was fuelled by meeting Australian sailing identities.
"We met Alan Bond and his crew and all these famous Aussies and they were telling us about Bass Strait and the Sydney to Hobart," Opielok said.
