Oh for a sextand and nautical almanac!

[Dyflin]

How embarrassing;

Navigational error for Alexandre Scrizzi

As expected the boat of the Brazilian Navy connected at midday with Alexander Scrizzi (Phoenix). He is on board and he is fine. After talking with him, he says he does not have GPS since the Northern Hemisphere and thought to be 400 miles further north than his current position. With the authorization of the Brazilian Admiralty, he is allowed to return to Salvador and remains under the military escort that is currently in the zone. He is expected on Thursday the 28th of October around 10:00 am local time.

The organization wishes to thank once again the commander Paes of the Brazilian Navy, Captain Tenente Fernandes of Capitaihia de Salvador, José Arcesio of La Feneb, Yves Niort and Força Aeria Brasileira.

source

 

[geoid96]

Even without GPS or a sextant, 400 miles is a large dead reckoning error.

 

[bbg]

Absolutely embarrassing - but you can be sure he did have a sextant and almanac on board. It is part of the requirements for the race.
He also should - in theory - know how to use them. Again a race requirement is to do a qualification sail, which consists of 1,000 miles solo and a minimum of two sun sights (with calculations) is mandatory.
I was watching with interest as this developed and was quite relieved when it turned out to be a navigational error. For a day or so it looked very much as if he had fallen off and the boat continued on without him.
Edit - I see he has abandoned / been disqualified, due to receiving external assistance (pointing him in the right direction).