sydney to hobart yacht abandoned

Sydney to Hobart yacht race competitor Huntress ashore on Christmas Beach.(Twitter: Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania)

Race to salvage Huntress after Hobart competitor beached on Cape Barren Island

By Monte Bovill and James Dunlevie – ABC News

A yacht abandoned during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has washed ashore on one of Tasmania’s most remote beaches after drifting for a week, with concerns for the area’s culture and environmental significance.

The crew of Huntress, a 12-metre cruiser, enjoyed “36 hours of absolute champagne sailing” during the 77th Sydney to Hobart race before conditions changed dramatically.

“We had 12 hours of very testing conditions on Tuesday night that unfortunately resulted in the loss of our rudder at 0700hrs Wednesday. While surfing a wave at 20 knots (boat speed), we heard a loud thud,” the crew wrote in an Instagram post.

“It became obvious that the rudder had sheared off when we saw it floating away in the distance.”

With some of the eight on board experiencing seasickness and authorities informing them a “tow would be too dangerous”, the “extremely difficult and heart-wrenching decision” was made to “leave Huntress floundering 80 nautical miles (148 kilometres) offshore”, the team posted on social media.

The crew were then taken aboard a police vessel and transferred to Flinders Island, where they said a salvage operation was “already being planned for her safe transfer to mainland Tasmania” on December 29.

Since then, Huntress has been drifting off Tasmania’s north-east coast without navigation lights or transmission of an Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal after the yacht’s batteries went flat.

It has now washed ashore on Christmas Beach on truwana/Cape Barren Island.

Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST) first issued a warning to marine traffic on Tuesday, five days after the yacht was abandoned, alerting that Huntress was drifting 15 nautical miles off the Tasmanian mainland.

According to the MAST alert, an at-sea salvage attempt was due to take place — but before that could happen, the vessel had gone ashore.

In a now-deleted post, the boat’s owner said the team were “angry, devastated and at a complete loss as to how the hell it came to this, given she was floating around for a week now with ample opportunity to be towed to safety”.

Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania manager Rebecca Digney said there were serious concerns about the yacht breaking up.

“At the moment, the yacht appears to be intact, but we are concerned what should happen if that yacht were to break apart. It’s going to be hard to recover the vessel and keep it intact.”

She described Christmas Beach as a “very clean, pristine and remote place”.

“It’s an area frequented by the Aboriginal people that live on truwana/Cape Barren Island,” she said.

“The island is the only parcel of land in the whole of Tasmania to have a permanent, full-time Aboriginal population living on Aboriginal land.”

The area is only accessible by foot or by boat.

Salvage attempts will now be made at the weekend.

It is the second year Huntress has failed to finish the Sydney to Hobart.

In 2021, in its maiden race, Huntress retired from competition due to mainsail damage.

Click on the link below to see full ABC News report

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-06/sydney-to-hobart-huntress-beached-cape-barren-island/101830434

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Bizarre Indigenous claim over Sydney to Hobart yacht a disturbing insight into those with most to gain from a Voice to Parliament

Reports that an Aboriginal land council are laying claim to a race yacht which washed up on a Tasmanian island gives me cause for concern about where Australia is heading, writes Caroline Di Russo.

I thought Prince Harry regaling the world about how he lost his virginity was the most ridiculous thing to hit the news this week.

I was wrong.

Earlier in the week, the ABC reported that a yacht which broke its rudder during the Sydney to Hobart race last month had washed up on the shores of Tasmania’s Cape Barren Island and was then salvaged on behalf of the owners.

Sounds like standard operating procedure, right?

Apparently, Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania chairman Michael Mansell said the yacht shouldn’t have been salvaged because “any vessels wrecked or washed up on the shores of Aboriginal land belong to Aborigines”.

He added “white man’s salvage laws do not apply because this is sovereign Aboriginal territory”.

To the ABC’s credit, they reported the opinion of maritime lawyer John Kavanagh, who said that he would be “surprised if there was any legal substance” to the claims and that “the common law of salvage doesn’t change the underlying title to the vessel”.

That is, the title to the yacht remains with the original owners and it doesn’t pass to whoever salvaged it.

Nevertheless, the attitude of the land council is concerning.

Imagine thinking you were entitled to ownership of the yacht simply because it accidently landed in your backyard.

Picture the neighbourhood friction if every sourpuss kept tennis balls which settled on their back lawn.

Thankfully, that doesn’t really happen because the great Australian tradition is to throw tennis balls back over the fence.

That’s just who we are.

It’s important to remember that private property rights, and mutual respect for those rights, is part of what makes our society tick; the idea of reward for effort motivates us to improve our lot in life, gives us something to conserve and encourages us to invest in the future.

They are rights which Aristotle spoke fervently about 2,400 years ago when he said that “such kindness and help becomes possible only when property is privately owned’.  

And while the recent use of words like “equality” and “justice” seem warm and fuzzy, they have been readily used to interfere with and denigrate private property rights.

An everyday example is the move by some state governments to deny a property owner the ability to retake possession of a house at the end of a rental agreement in circumstances where they have “no reason” to ask the tenant to leave.

It is justified as a way of protecting vulnerable tenants but in reality it tramples on the property owner’s right to use their private property as they wish to after a contract has expired.

This is unacceptable.

If governments want vulnerable renters protected, then they should provide adequate social housing.

They should not quasi-nationalise private property whereby they essentially commandeer the use of the property and leave the owners to carry the risk. 

I’m not suggesting we don’t help vulnerable people.

Quite the contrary.

We should help them, but it must remain the responsibility of the government to do that without hijacking private interests to do the work for them.

Given the prevailing trend towards this distorted notion of justice, it does make me wonder where we are headed.  

In an interview by David Speers with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the Voice, Speers asked Albanese, by way of example, how a government would respond to advice from the Voice that the Northern Territory alcohol ban should remain in place.

“Well, it would be a very brave government that said it shouldn’t,” Albanese replied.

Does it mean the alcohol ban is a good idea and it would be unwise to remove it?

Or does this mean in practice, a government wouldn’t be “brave” enough to defy advice from the Voice?

I have no issue with local Indigenous communities providing advice to government.

However, if there is influence in the consultation and a creeping attitude that “white man’s laws don’t apply”, then there is going to be a broader issue for government in how it manages this advice.

If the Voice advises something which is patently ridiculous or seeks to corrode the basic rights of the broader community, then any government needs to retain the moral authority to defy that advice.

While we all want to see the circumstances of Indigenous Australians improve, it must be in a way which still protects the fundamental rights of other Australians.    

The “white man’s laws” can’t just be disregarded when it’s convenient.

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Vow to restore salvaged Syd-Hob yacht

The owners of a Sydney to Hobart yacht salvaged from a remote Tasmanian island after it was abandoned during the race have vowed to restore the vessel to its former glory.

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Huntress was recovered from Christmas Beach on Cape Barren Island in Bass Strait on Sunday, some 11 days after it ran into trouble.

The 40-foot yacht's rudder was sheared off after it hit an object on December 28 about 80 nautical miles east of Flinders Island. The boat's crew was rescued later in the day by water police.

Huntress, which was left to drift at sea before it beached last week, is now safely tied up in northern Tasmania.

"Receiving this news was simply a huge relief and the news we had been waiting to receive for several long days," a post on the boat's Instagram page read.

"Moving forward we will be working with our insurer to plan Huntress's repairs in restoring her to her former glory.

"This may take several months to complete but we cannot wait to get started!

"Finally, we wish to thank everyone for all the messages of support that we have received, it really has meant everything to us and has helped us keep going."

Following the salvage, the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania (ALCT) claimed the yacht should not have been removed from the beach, as it belonged to Indigenous people.

ALCT chairman Michael Mansell said there was an Aboriginal law on Cape Barren Island, also known as truwana, preventing the yacht from being removed unless a portion of its value was paid or ownership was given to the Indigenous population.

The ALCT has reportedly sent a letter to the yacht's owners and insurers requesting a formal meeting.

Total Dive Solutions, a company involved in salvaging Huntress, said Indigenous representatives provided "permission and local site knowledge" during the operation.

Huntress also failed to complete the Sydney to Hobart race in 2021 when it was forced to retire with mainsail damage.

Australian Associated Press

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Abandoned Sydney to Hobart yacht salvaged from Tasmanian beach will be restored, owners say

Forty-foot yacht had been left to drift at sea after its rudder snapped and crew were rescued by water police

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The owners of a Sydney to Hobart yacht salvaged from a remote Tasmanian island after it was abandoned during the race have vowed to restore the vessel.

Huntress was recovered from Christmas Beach on Cape Barren Island in Bass Strait on Sunday, 11 days after it ran into trouble.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

The 40-foot yacht’s rudder was sheared off after it hit an object on 28 December about 80 nautical miles east of Flinders Island. The boat’s crew were rescued later in the day by water police.

Huntress, which was left to drift at sea before it beached last week, is now safely tied up in northern Tasmania .

“Receiving this news was simply a huge relief and the news we had been waiting to receive for several long days,” a post on the boat’s Instagram page stated.

“Moving forward we will be working with our insurer to plan Huntress’s repairs in restoring her to her former glory. This may take several months to complete but we cannot wait to get started!

“Finally, we wish to thank everyone for all the messages of support that we have received, it really has meant everything to us and has helped us keep going.”

After the salvage, the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania said the yacht should not have been removed from the beach, as it belonged to Indigenous people.

The ALCT chairman, Michael Mansell, said there was an Aboriginal law on Cape Barren Island, also known as truwana, preventing the yacht from being removed unless a portion of its value was paid or ownership was given to the Indigenous population.

“Physically the boat may have been taken from our land but our rights didn’t go with the boat,” Mansell said on Monday.

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“It may well be that the salvage guys, the owner and the insurance people were not aware of the Aboriginal right to ownership of any vessel that gets washed up on the shore.”

He said either a payment equal to one-third of the vessel’s value had to be paid or full ownership relinquished. The ALCT has reportedly sent a letter to the owners and insurers requesting a formal meeting.

Total Dive Solutions, a company involved in salvaging Huntress, said Indigenous representatives had provided “permission and local site knowledge” during the operation.

Huntress also failed to complete the Sydney to Hobart race in 2021 when it was forced to retire with mainsail damage.

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Sydney-Hobart yacht washes up on island

A yacht abandoned at sea after suffering damage in the Sydney to Hobart race has washed up on a remote Tasmanian island, where a salvage mission will be attempted.

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Water police rescued the crew of Huntress on December 28 after the 40-foot vessel struck an unidentified object that sheared off part of its rudder.

The yacht was left to drift at sea and has washed up near Christmas Beach on Cape Barren Island in Bass Strait.

Marine and Safety Tasmania earlier this week issued an alert saying the yacht was 15 nautical miles off the state's northeast coast and salvage operations were expected to start on Wednesday.

It confirmed on Wednesday the yacht had beached on Cape Barren Island and salvage attempts would be made on Saturday.

A spokesman for Marine and Safety Tasmania said the salvage operation was a matter for the yacht's owners and insurers.

The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania posted images on social media of the vessel washed ashore.

"We're hoping salvage is swift, safe and successful as she poses a risk (to) remote and pristine country," the organisation said.

Huntress was forced to retire from the Sydney to Hobart race after setting off from the NSW capital on Boxing Day.

Skipper and owner Victoria Logan and her seven crewmates suffered a mishap 80 nautical miles east of Flinders Island on the morning of December 28.

She told AAP last week she was downstairs when the yacht's driver, her partner Brent, felt a thud through the steering as the vessel was riding a wave.

"The wheel got ripped out of his hand and the boat started breaching violently. It took a few minutes to work out, but we realised we lost steerage," she said.

"We realised the rudder had sheared off and we could see it floating next to the boat, off into the distance."

Logan said Huntress likely hit a sunfish. The yacht attempted the Sydney to Hobart in 2021 but failed to finish because of mainsail damage.

Logan has been contacted for comment.

Australian Associated Press

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Six abandon ship as Sydney to Hobart yacht sinks off Tasmanian coast

• Chantal Borciani

Six people rescued from the water during a dramatic rescue off the Tasmanian coast as Hollywood Boulevard sinks on return from the Sydney to Hobart race

Hollywood Boulevard during the Sydney Hobart race

Six people have been winched to safety from a yacht returning from the Sydney to Hobart race after it sank in freezing waters off Flinders Island, northeast of Tasmania.

The 16m Hollywood Boulevard was heading back to NSW, having placed ninth in the Sydney to Hobart race, when the accident happened about 11am on 14 January.

The 16m Hollywood Boulevard was returning to its home port in New South Wales after placing ninth in the Sydney to Hobart race when it began to take on water. The crew made a Mayday call and were forced to abandon ship.

Continues below…

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Two men were rescued after their yacht sank between St. Lucia and St. Vincent

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According to reports from the crew, the boat got into trouble after striking what is thought to have been a large sunfish.

Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance flight paramedics rescued the six passengers from the freezing water. None of the six were ­injured. The boat could not be saved.

Veteran of 40 Sydney Hobarts, Michael Spies,  was among the crew on board Hollywood Boulevard when it was rescued.

Terror in the Tasman: Remembering the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, 20 years on

It began, as they all do, at 1pm on Boxing Day in Sydney Harbour.

Just 48 hours later, six lives had been lost in what became the deadliest incident in Australian sailing history.

Less than half of all starters made it to the finish line. Some 24 boats were completely abandoned or written off and 55 sailors had to be rescued, by both aircraft and Royal Australian Navy ships. In all, it was our nation’s biggest ever peacetime rescue operation.

Twenty years on from the 1998 edition of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Foxsports.com.au looks back at how the terrible tragedy unfolded.

At the starters’ gun, 115 yachts took off through Sydney Harbour and out into the Tasman Sea, to make the 628-nautical mile journey to the south-east of Tasmania.

Yet there were already troubling signs.

A few hours earlier, at the final briefing conducted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, sailors were warned of a low pressure system forming off the coast.

“It’s going to be very hard in Bass Strait, so get ready for a nasty one,” Bob Thomas, navigator and co-owner of AFR Midnight Rambler, told skipper Ed Psaltis in comments reported by Fairfax Media .

Don Buckley, a crew member on B52, spoke to NSW Police a month after the race .

“We had a last-minute update and ... the night before it had been pre-empted that perhaps the low was forming and that would be the only spanner in the works, that we might have some hard stuff,” Buckley said.

“It was hard to know how strong it would be but he (the team’s weather expert) certainly said, ‘you’ll get hammered’.

“Most people expect at some time in the Hobart race you’d have a southerly, and it’s just the cycle of the race. So I guess it didn’t ring any more alarm bells than, OK, it will hit us at some stage.

“We felt comfortable.”

Billionaire tech mogul Larry Ellison, a keen sailor, was skippering the yacht Sayonara, which eventually took line honours. But even he wasn’t expecting to get out as well as they did.

“After what was a beautiful day on Sydney Harbour the wind got more intense and the skies slowly, slowly darkened and I remember after 12 hours we were further ahead than the record holder was in 24 hours,” he told News Corp in 2009 .

“We were going twice as fast as the boat that had set the record on that race and I remember thinking, 'well that’s exciting, but what’s going on?’

“Sayonara was going over 21 knots and I kept saying, she’s not supposed to go that fast. As yet it was just a storm. We really didn’t know what we were getting into at all.”

The leaders began to enter the Bass Strait in the early morning of December 27; even smaller boats were travelling faster than anyone expected.

“It was a very fast ride. Our top speed was 21 knots, surfing a wave on an absolute knife-edge,” Psaltis told Fairfax Media .

“The yacht was going so fast there was a big rooster tail off the stern like a speedboat. We suffered two massive broaches during that period.

“They were really out-of-control capsizes – people in the water, absolute mayhem. Both times the little boat just jumped back up and kept going, showing how strong she was.”

On the 27th, the conditions just continued to worsen.

From 30, to 40, to 50 and then 60 knots in just minutes; the boats were battling horrendous winds, massive waves and the corresponding spray which made things incredibly difficult.

Overnight, some were lucky, like the late Gerry Schipper.

Schipper was a Victorian policeman who became a boat safety advocate after his experience in the 1998 race. His friend Tim Stackpool told ABC’s RN Breakfast in 2015 what happened when he went overboard while sailing on Challenge Again at around 1am.

“In the middle of the night, he was working on deck. He didn’t have any safety gear on; no buoyancy vest, he wasn’t attached to the deck. And he got washed overboard,” Stackpool said.

“He heard the call, ‘man overboard, man overboard’, and he found himself, in the middle of the night, huge seas, and just wondering how this boat was going to come and pick him up.

“He saw it disappearing into the distance, and the waves ... they’re like cliffs. So the boat would disappear and reappear as the waves washed over him.”

With no electronic positioning device - now a necessity for sailors - Schipper was left stranded in stormy seas.

“Then he remembered he had one of waterproof torches in his hand; that’s all he had to signal the crew to come and save him. Because of course they couldn’t see either, it was pitch black.

“He was in the water for half an hour; in the end it was a textbook rescue. They turned the boat around and they almost landed on top of him. They turned around ... so the weather would wash him into the boat.”

Gusts of wind were recorded at terrifying speeds of 90 knots (166km/h) around Wilson’s Promontory with crew members having to battle waves that some estimated reached heights of 30 metres.

“We just felt the boat roar up a wave and I think there were screams from the guy steering - ‘look out’. Then we just went straight over, upside down, and it was mayhem,” Don Buckley later recalled.

“It sounded like a motor accident. Just as loud, it was just horrific.”

After a particularly bad wave, Buckley and the crew tried to recover.

“When it came up it was probably worse than when we went down because we had a lot of water in it, and there was stuff everywhere. I was pinned. I had sailed came down on top of me and I was up to [my] neck in water.

“I was screaming at them to get the sails off me, so I could come out, all I wanted to do was run up the hatch.”

A stove top struck a female crew member in the head and she was trapped underwater. One man got his head stuck in the steering wheel and had to snap himself out of his safety harness; that left him 40 metres away from the boat. Fortunately he was able to swim back to safety.

Others weren’t so lucky. A former British Olympian, Glyn Charles, was swept over board from Sword of Orion and died.

Three men, Mike Bannister, Jim Lawler and John Dean, drowned when their life raft fell apart, following the sinking of their yacht Winston Churchill.

Two perished on Business Post Naiad; the skipper Bruce Guy, who is suspected of suffering a heart attack, and crew member Phil Skeggs who passed from injuries suffered when the boat rolled.

Those who were able to kept sailing towards Hobart; 44 yachts made it. Many others had to try and make their way to Eden, in southern New South Wales.

Barry Griffiths, a member of the Eden volunteer coastal patrol, told the ABC he worked a 32-hour shift to co-ordinate rescues on radios.

“There was a terrible lot of screaming. You could hear the desperation in some of the voices,” he said.

“Sometimes their radios went dead, and there could have been a multitude of reasons; [they] were dismasted, some lost power or had too much moisture getting into the radio.”

“I reckon looking out the window there that the top of the waves was nearly as high as this window. It was mountainous seas.”

Sayonara took line honours at around 8am on December 29 - but the victory celebrations were of course cancelled.

“This is not what racing is supposed to be,” Larry Ellison said after the race.

“Difficult, yes. Dangerous, no. Life-threatening, definitely not. I’d never have signed up for this race if I knew how difficult it would be.”

The billionaire still thinks about 1998.

“I think about it all the time. It was a life-changing experience,” he said a decade later.

“We knew there were boats sinking when we got in, we knew people were in trouble still out there in the midst of it and we were enormously grateful having made it.

“We were the first survivor to get in and finish the race. It was a race for survival, not for victory, trophies or anything like that.”

The 44th and final yacht to arrive, Misty, made it to Hobart on December 31. A day later, on Constitution Dock, a public memorial was held for the six lives lost.

Hugo van Kretschmar, commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (who organise the race), read out this statement:

“Mike Bannister, John Dean, Jim Lawler, Glyn Charles, Bruce Guy, Phil Skeggs.

“May the everlasting voyage you have now embarked on be blessed with calm seas and gentle breezes.

“May you never have to reef or change a headsail in the night.

“May your bunk be always warm and dry.”

If the same conditions seen in 1998 were facing the starters of 2018’s race, things would go much differently.

With better weather forecasts and more safety equipment required on board, the yachts would likely avoid the worst of the storm altogether and be better placed to deal with what does eventuate. Rob Kothe, who was on Sword of Orion in 1998, explained part of the difference to Sail World in 2008 .

“At the 12:30pm sked on Dec 27th 1998, the weather forecast read out by race control was winds up to 50 knots,” he said.

“On Sword of Orion we were experiencing 78 knots. Under racing rules we could not tell anyone, because we weren’t allowed to give other boats assistance by informing them of the weather ahead.

“We decided this was a life and death situation; it was not a game. We broke the rules to report to the wind strengths to the fleet, which soon reached 92 knots.

“It was too late to warn everyone. Many boats were close behind us, but about 40 boats retired to Eden as a result of our actions.

“Under today’s more sensible rules wind speeds above 40 knots have to be reported; therefore sudden unpredicted storm cells will not catch everyone unawares.

“Across the board, the equipment has improved, including better life jackets, better harnesses, personal EPIRBS. There’s also much better education and training. Better weather data and a change in the mind set of Race officials and race participants have made the biggest change, but all these moves have made racing safer.”

The tragic circumstances of 1998 have therefore helped save lives since then.

Twenty years on, a moment’s silence will be performed on race radio to remember the fallen.

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

1998 Sydney Hobart: Extract from The Proving Ground by G Bruce Knecht

• Tom Cunliffe
• April 20, 2020

Helpless crew can do nothing except watch as one of their own, swept overboard during a capsize, drifts away in a storm

Red flare and liferaft deployed – crew of the stricken yacht Stand Aside wait for rescue by helicopter in the 1998 Sydney Hobart Race. All photos: Richard Bennett

G Bruce Knecht, sometime foreign correspondent of The Wall Street Journal , has risen nobly to this challenge in his book The Proving Ground . Originally published in 2001 in the aftermath of the tragedy, the book is now available via Amazon – and it should be required reading for all who go offshore to compete.

Within a framework of the race in general, Knecht has concentrated mainly on the events surrounding four boats. Sword of Orion is ultimately abandoned in the direst distress, Winston Churchill is lost, but Sayonara and Brindabella finish.

From meticulous research and endless interviewing of those involved, Knecht has produced a book that is hard to put down. Not only does he describe the events accurately, he takes the bold step of looking critically into the characters and motivations of the dramatis personae.

The book is skilfully crafted by a master and not written as a linear time line, but this has made it difficult to find an extract of suitable length for publication in Yachting World . I have eventually centred on the loss of Glyn Charles, an Olympic sailor from Britain, one of the crew of Sword . Charles joined the crew late in the day as a ‘rock star’ helmsman.

What went wrong and why, as described below, brings us right on board the yacht and it makes for harrowing reading.

From The Proving Ground by G Bruce Knecht

At about 1600, the owner Kooky’s requirement for giving up the race was surpassed as the wind reached close to 70 knots. By then, the yacht was 90 miles from the safe haven of Eden. In racing terms, Sword of Orion was still doing well, but even so he told his shipmate Kulmar he was prepared to give up. ‘It’s up to the helmsmen. If they want to go back, we’ll go back.’

Kulmar already knew what Brownie and Glyn would say, but he quickly checked with both of them before telling Kooky it was unanimous. ‘Fine, let’s do it,’ Kooky said.

‘But where are we going to go?’ Dags the permanent hand interjected. ‘We can’t head directly to Eden. That would put the waves behind us.’

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Hunched over a map, Kooky suggested that they head west, roughly in the direction of Melbourne, until it was safe to turn toward Eden. At 1644 Kooky announced Sword ’s retirement over the radio, Brownie got out of his bunk and told Kooky, ‘I’ll take the helm when we turn around.’ Kooky said no. ‘Glyn’s on the wheel; he can do it.’

Glyn already had a plan. ‘I’ll wait for a big wave,’ he said. ‘As soon as we’re over the top, I’ll turn the wheel hard as we go down the other side. There’ll be less wind between the waves, and we should be able to get around pretty fast.’

Being on deck was painful. The wind was ripping through the rigging, producing a constant high-pitched shriek. And having created the waves, the wind had gone into battle with them, shaving off the foam at their peaks and creating a jet stream of moisture that looked like smoke. The droplets slapped Glyn and Dags with skin-stinging speed.

All the waves were huge, but after letting several pass Glyn judged one to be larger than the others. ‘This is the one,’ he shouted. The angle increased dramatically as Sword climbed the 35ft wave. Just before it reached the top, Glyn pulled at the wheel, hand over hand.

As Sword passed over the crest and began to tilt forward, the rudder came out of the water. When it resubmerged a couple of seconds later, the Sword carved a tight arc as it skidded down the wave. By the time it reached the valley, it was on a new course.

‘Great job,’ Dags shouted, but he had already begun to worry about Glyn’s ability to drive the boat. Rather than steering the westerly course they had talked about, he was heading north.

‘How are you feeling?’ Dags asked. Glyn, who had a stomach bug and was prone to seasickness, admitted to feeling terrible and then went on to say how bad he felt about not putting in more time at the wheel. ‘I haven’t done my job. I’ve let the team down.’

‘No, that’s not true. Shit happens. If you’re not feeling well, it’s not your fault.’

AFR Midnight Rambler , skippered by Ed Psaltis, battles through the atrocious conditions

The waves were no larger than before Sword changed course, but now they were far more dangerous. The almost northerly course Glyn was steering would take them directly to Eden, but it meant the waves were coming astern. That meant Sword was doing exactly what Dags had desperately wanted to avoid – surfing, vastly increasing the chances of going out of control and rolling over.

Glyn wasn’t really looking at the waves. Having cinched the cord in his hood so tightly around his face that he looked as if he were wearing blinkers, he seemed to be paying more attention to the instruments.

Dags, not sure what to do, shouted over the wind, ‘Do you want me to steer?’ With his eyes focused on the compass, Glyn replied, ‘No, I can do it. It makes me feel better.’ Almost pleading, Dags said, ‘But you can’t steer this way. We have to go into the waves.’

Glyn was obviously miserable. His jacket was equipped with rubber seals around his neck and wrists, which were supposed to keep water out, but a steady stream was trickling down his back and chest, causing him to tremble with cold. ‘This gear is worthless,’ he said bitterly. ‘I’m completely wet. I wish we could just get out of here.’

‘You have to stop surfing,’ Dags insisted. ‘Why don’t you let someone else steer?’ Glyn said nothing.

Dags wasn’t the only crewman who was worried about Glyn’s steering. Clipping his harness onto the safety line, the experienced Carl Watson made his way to the back of the boat. ‘Glyn, your course is too low — you have to come up so we can keep heading into the waves.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Glyn replied without making eye contact. ‘I had friends who died in the Fastnet Race . I know what to do.’

• 1. From The Proving Ground by G Bruce Knecht
• 2. Below decks
• 3. Drowning
• 4. The right response?
• 5. Dry land

• SYDNEY, NSW
• MELBOURNE, VIC
• HOBART, TAS
• BRISBANE, QLD
• ADELAIDE, SA
• CANBERRA, ACT
• Watch the US Open for free on 9Now

Sydney to Hobart tragedy: Heroes, survivors reflect

• A Current Affair
• SYDNEY TO HOBART

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Vow to restore salvaged Syd-Hob yacht

The owners of a Sydney to Hobart yacht salvaged from a remote Tasmanian island after it was abandoned during the race have vowed to restore the vessel to its former glory.

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Huntress was recovered from Christmas Beach on Cape Barren Island in Bass Strait on Sunday, some 11 days after it ran into trouble.

The 40-foot yacht's rudder was sheared off after it hit an object on December 28 about 80 nautical miles east of Flinders Island. The boat's crew was rescued later in the day by water police.

Huntress, which was left to drift at sea before it beached last week, is now safely tied up in northern Tasmania.

"Receiving this news was simply a huge relief and the news we had been waiting to receive for several long days," a post on the boat's Instagram page read.

"Moving forward we will be working with our insurer to plan Huntress's repairs in restoring her to her former glory.

"This may take several months to complete but we cannot wait to get started!

"Finally, we wish to thank everyone for all the messages of support that we have received, it really has meant everything to us and has helped us keep going."

Following the salvage, the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania (ALCT) claimed the yacht should not have been removed from the beach, as it belonged to Indigenous people.

ALCT chairman Michael Mansell said there was an Aboriginal law on Cape Barren Island, also known as truwana, preventing the yacht from being removed unless a portion of its value was paid or ownership was given to the Indigenous population.

The ALCT has reportedly sent a letter to the yacht's owners and insurers requesting a formal meeting.

Total Dive Solutions, a company involved in salvaging Huntress, said Indigenous representatives provided "permission and local site knowledge" during the operation.

Huntress also failed to complete the Sydney to Hobart race in 2021 when it was forced to retire with mainsail damage.

Australian Associated Press

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Manufacturer of superyacht that sank in Sicily with 22 aboard says human error to blame

Topic: Maritime Accidents and Incidents

British entrepreneur Mike Lynch.   ( Reuters: Henry Nicholls/File )

The body of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been recovered from the wreckage of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily. 

The yacht manufacturer's CEO has publicly addressed the incident, blaming the captain and crew for what he says could have been easily avoided. 

What's next? 

Rescue crews are continuing to search the wreckage for one missing woman, while four other bodies that were recovered await identification. 

The body of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been recovered from the wreckage of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily, as the boat's maker blamed the shipwreck on "indescribable, unreasonable errors" by the crew.

The Italian coastguard confirmed Mr Lynch's body had been recovered by rescue crews, along with four others, on Thursday, local time. They did not confirm the identities of the other recovered bodies.

Others reported missing from the yacht include the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer, Mr Bloomer's wife Judy, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the superyacht's manufacturing company Italian Sea Group, said there were no structural problems with the vessel that could have led to the shipwreck, arguing the crew were ill-prepared.

"It had absolutely no problem, it was a model for so many ships because it was so stable," he told the BBC.

"The weather alerts clearly showed the storm would have arrived at 4am, the captain should have closed every hatch, raised anchor, sailed into the wind, and lowered the keel. Then everyone could have gone back to sleep and the cruise would have happily continued."

Mr Costantino told Reuters correct emergency procedures had not been followed despite stormy weather already being forecast.

"The boat suffered a series of indescribable, unreasonable errors, the impossible happened on that boat … but it went down because it took on water. From where, the investigators will tell."

The Bayesian, a 56-metre British-flagged yacht, went down in a storm early on Monday as it was moored about a kilometre offshore.

Civil protection officials said they believe the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.

Another yacht anchored near the Bayesian escaped unharmed. The captain of the sunken yacht and other crew members have not commented publicly on the disaster, while Italian prosecutors investigating it are due to hold a press conference on Saturday.

Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived, including Mr Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter, Sofia.

Italian firefighter divers bring ashore the body of one of the victims. ( AP: Salvatore Cavalli )

Ms Golunski's husband James Emslie and New Zealand captain of the yacht James Catfield also survived.

Interior ministry official Massimo Mariani told Reuters Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah remained missing, saying she may be inside the wreck or could have been tossed into the sea as the boat sank.

Divers have struggled to find the bodies.

"We would need a crystal ball to know when we'll be able to find the next body," said Luca Cari, spokesperson for the fire rescue service.

"It's very difficult to move inside the wreckage. Moving just one metre can take up to 24 hours," he added.