Yacht Accident - NSW Australia - Two Dead

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Solitude

It does once again show that this is a dangerous sport

No it doesn't - the sport isnt dangerous. Its a choice thing - how hard and how fast and how close to the shore.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Joli

Is the water cold enough in those areas that they succumbed to hypothermia?

Water temp: 17 c Air temp: 13-21 c


17 C deg = 67 F


Shock and hypothermia combine and get tricky. How long were they in the water? Yendys said the 2 boats were 6 miles from Shockwave at the time of collison? so 30 minutes. Those on the island would have been wet....
It was windy. All would have been treated for hypothermia I think.

In Gords report "You go around that rock yourself and you know it well ..."

There are 2 90 mile races from Sydney, Bird Island and Flinders Island. Guys who can still count the number of Hobarts couldn't gues at how many times they have been around Flinders and Bird...

Neither are lit.

[MarkJ]

To this day the reef site - on the north-east corner of Flinders Islet, almost exactly where1 Shockwave crashed - is known as Cinderella Rock.
It was, Ring concedes, a scary experience, but not one that in any way explains last weekend's tragedy or, indeed, marks Flinders Islet down as an especially dangerous place, an accident blackspot on the navigator's chart.
''I know last year there was a near accident when a yacht clipped its keel on the reef on the southern side but it was like, touch and go. Basically, the club has been racing around that island once a fortnight for 30 years without a problem.''

''You can see waves, white breaking on the island,'' says Ring, who stresses he is not being critical, or judgmental. ''Even at night there's usually some light from Port Kembla.''

So what went wrong last Saturday?
After the accident, Matt Pearce, a crew member from Cronulla, provided a chilling account of Shockwave's final moments. ''We were sailing well,'' the bowman told the ABC. ''The breeze was about 16 knots and the sea abating. But it was still big and confused as we neared the island.''
As Shockwave approached the island on a port tack, preparing to hoist more sail, he saw waves breaking ahead.
''I called to Shorty to bear away, when we hit the island at speed, which stopped the boat and turned us around. Sally was washed overboard. She was still tethered to the boat … I heard Andrew call for help … he was nowhere to be seen.''
The rest is cold, and black, and, as Ring concedes, totally baffling.

How did things go so wrong? Newspaper article


North East corner of Flinders.

See the chart I posted a few posts ago. Theres a fair bit of reef.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

How did things go so wrong? Newspaper article...

"...
This weekend an investigation led by Detective Superintendent Mark Hutchings is continuing, as debris from the yacht, dispersed far and wide by wild weather, is collected and the 16 survivors, including Short's 14-year-old son, are interviewed.
Survivors have been asked by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia - under whose auspices the 165- kilometre race between Sydney Harbour and Flinders Islet is held - not to discuss or to speculate about the causes of the accident ..."

[Factor]

Originally Posted by GordMay

"...

Survivors have been asked by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia - under whose auspices the 165- kilometre race between Sydney Harbour and Flinders Islet is held - not to discuss or to speculate about the causes of the accident ..."

Fairly typical of self interested clubs really. For the record - there is no property in witnesses - each and every person there can talk to whomever they want and say what they like. They can of course choose not to talk with anyone as well, including police and other agencies, its their choice - not the CYCA.

[galleyslave]

A Chinese gybe is when the boom goes up and gybes but the head of the sail doesn't - more likely with a gaff but ALWAYS nasty.