Yachtsmen 'died in freak accident'

[sctpc]

Hope its in the right thread
it just goes to show how stupid some people can be in the heat of the moment

Yachtsmen 'died in freak accident'

[Eleven]

What a terrible waste of lives for the sake of basic safety equipment.

Just another reminder to take care and to remember worse things happen on land.

For their families, and your families, life jackets in the cockpit, harness and life line on deck. Each of them expected to be home that evening and were enjoying a day out.
If your boat doesn't have a running line to hook a life line to please consider how it could be done. One man left on board may have saved the rest.

What a waste.

[44'cruisingcat]

I can't really see 3 people accidentally ending up overboard simultaneously. The sea wasn't rough, there were dinner plates on the table.
It doesn't explain why the boat had fenders deployed either.

I still think there's more to it. But we'll probably never know.

[Wotname]

The coroner's explanation of the events matches the known facts. Other explanations also match the known facts. According to the above press article, the coroner found no evidence that any other explanation was MORE valid.

What is not said, is that the evidence to support the coroners findings is also not strong.

I would suggest the findings are "convenient" and I have lived on the Queensland coast for over 30 years and have lived in very remote areas of that coast for some years.

I certainly don't know what happened anymore than most people but I do know that strange and unsavoury events (many unpublicized) have occured on this coast and this just MIGHT be another one.

My 2 cents worth.

[Pelagic]

Would be interested to know how they came across that scenario.

1)...Was their blood on the boom matching Barnes' DNA?

2)...Were either of the brothers Turnstead known to be candidates for the Darwin Awards?

I doubt if the families would be satisfied with that explanation but I guess it sounds more professional than, “we don’t know!”

[shadow]

Damn, another crazy sea story.. It is really unfortunate..

[Eleven]

'I would suggest the findings are "convenient"'

And I thought worse things happened on Land.
Damned Hoodies get everywhere.
Even more distressing for the families if they didn't lose their loved ones while they were doing something they enjoyed but to some petty hoodlums after small change.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

......

I doubt if the families would be satisfied with that explanation but I guess it sounds more professional than, “we don’t know!”

Exactly

Originally Posted by Eleven

'I would suggest the findings are "convenient"'

And I thought worse things happened on Land.
Damned Hoodies get everywhere.
Even more distressing for the families if they didn't lose their loved ones while they were doing something they enjoyed but to some petty hoodlums after small change.

Just for the record, I am not suggesting that these sailors were the victims of "petty hoodlums after small change".

[David_Old_Jersey]

A disaster is often the culmination of a series of small events, in themsleves and individually of no great drama - but collectively.......

3 fellas falling overboard? Likely? Of course not. Quite feasible? IMO yes - especially when no one onboard thinks it is possible.

Of course not to say they were not boarded by Feral Kiwis or abducted by Aliens........but I guess we will never know

[surfingminniwinni]

"I do know that strange and unsavoury events (many unpublicized) have occured on this coast and this just MIGHT be another one."

What events are you talking about?
Interested, as one who hope to cruise this coast next year!

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

3 fellas falling overboard? Likely? Of course not. Quite feasible? IMO yes - especially when no one onboard thinks it is possible.

But when 2 of the 3 are already overboard, (thus proving it IS possible) wouldn't you, as last man standing, with all 3 lives depending on you, make absolutely CERTAIN you didn't fall overboard?

And it still doesn't explain why the fenders were deployed.

[maxingout]

I find the coroner's explanation extremely improbable. The article states "a change in the wind's direction caused the yacht's boom to swing and knock him overboard."

We are looking at a catamaran with a beam of at least sixteen feet. The cockpit has a hard cover so the boom can't hit the person in the cockpit, and if he is standing next to the mast it would have to knock him a distance of at least eight feet to put him in the water. Not very likely. In a heeled monolhull, a swinging boom can easily put a person in the water. But a on a non-heeling catamaran, it's hard to see how it could happen.

I have sailed lots of miles offshore on a catamaran, and the the likelihood of the coroner's scenario being correct is right up there with him being hit by a comet and being knocked overboard.

It doesn't make sense.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by surfingminniwinni

"I do know that strange and unsavoury events (many unpublicized) have occured on this coast and this just MIGHT be another one."

What events are you talking about?
Interested, as one who hope to cruise this coast next year!

Sorry, not willing to go into details as not only is this is a public forum, but it also has some posting rules to comply with.
Suffice to say "money, crime, drugs".
But remember this is Australia, probably one of the safest countries in the world from personal safety point of view but just as there are parts of say Sydney that you are careful in, so there are parts of remote Australia that you are careful in. That said, 99.99999% of the time you are safe.

[sctpc]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Sorry, not willing to go into details as not only is this is a public forum, but it also has some posting rules to comply with.
Suffice to say "money, crime, drugs".
But remember this is Australia, probably one of the safest countries in the world from personal safety point of view but just as there are parts of say Sydney that you are careful in, so there are parts of remote Australia that you are careful in. That said, 99.99999% of the time you are safe.

Sorry but its not the top end of WA its middle QLD so your saying they bring drugs past Darwin ect?
I was told it was a see fairy who dident like 3 guys on a boat!!!

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by sctpc

Sorry but its not the top end of WA its middle QLD so your saying they bring drugs past Darwin ect?
I was told it was a see fairy who dident like 3 guys on a boat!!!

Well you may be right about the "see fairy" as improbable as it seems, such an explanation does fit the known facts.

I actually don't know that much about the top end of WA but I have lived in the Torres Strait for a couple of years. In my privileged travels of Cape York by light aircraft, small boats and 4WD I have visited areas not normally visited by the general public. I have seen first hand a wrecked yacht that disgorged significant quantities of drugs as it broke up and seen camps where you won't be welcomed with a friendly cuppa if you drop in to say "G'day".

I concede that Townsville is well south of the Cape and it is part of the mainstream coastal communities yet the I know Qld police have raided coastal and island drug camps as far south Rockhampton.

That said, I have cruised the Qld coast for 12 months and lived aboard at various ports for a year or so and always felt 100%.

But this is the internet, I might be a Sydney teenage geek with an over eager imagination.

Over and out.