During the 1996–97 Vendée Globe solo round-the-world yacht race, his vessel lost its keel and capsized in the Southern Ocean.
Bullimore managed to reach an air pocket in the upside-down boat in pitch darkness, having lost his food supplies, aside from a bar of chocolate.
The Royal Australian Navy launched a rescue mission for Bullimore and another Vendée Globe capsized competitor, Thierry Dubois.
[6][7] Adelaide then proceeded further south to where the Exide Challenger had been located by a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion.
Adelaide dispatched a rigid-hulled inflatable boat to the Exide Challenger where crew members knocked on the hull.