1998 Sydney Hobart yacht race

[wiggins]

The 1998 Sydney Hobart yacht race was hit by a massive weather bomb that destroyed the fleet. Ensued the biggest maritime rescue in Australia's history.

I'l post pics and some interesting police interview transcripts by survivors. Any one who sails will be interested in this.

Midnight Rambler doing it tough. She won on handicap

Stand Aside demasted and roof torn off

Unknown boat in heavy weather

boat and wave size comparison

Stand Aside again

Sayonara at the start

and in the middle of the shit

Nokia in the shit

Buisnes Post Naiad trashed.
a dead crew man stayed on board.

Expert witness

http://www.equipped.com/sydney-hobart/Vol%2010%20Docs/JOUBERT%20Peter.pdf

ABC 4 Corners report



FOX coverage:

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

How freak killer storm created pure terror in Sydney-Hobart

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[wiggins]

Winston Churchill, which sailed the very first Sydney Hobart, was thrown off a wave and smashed down into a trough was holed by the violent impact and sank. Her crew abandoned ship but the life rafts disintegrated with two old boys basically holding onto two remaining rings and spent ages in the water. Loss of life for a number of the boys.

On this Day (December 27) - May Day... May Day... May Day. - Classic Sailboats

December 27, 1998 – The 1998 Sydney to Hobart fleet comprised 115 starters. Of these, only 44 yachts completed the race, after severe weather conditions struck the fleet off the south-eastern Australian coast. An unusually strong low pressure depression developed which resulted in mid-summer...

classicsailboats.org

Winston Churchill at the start of the race

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

How freak killer storm created pure terror in Sydney-Hobart

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[wiggins]

http://www.equipped.com/sydney-hobart/New%20Docs%202/DEAKIN%20Barry.pdf

This looks at the effects of race rules on boat design with reference to stability... interesting stuff given drownings that happen when boats take time to self right

This is not what you want to see when you go boating...

sydney-to-hobart-1998-disaster-on-water.html

 

[wiggins]

This guy is interesting. Delightfully modest...

http://www.equipped.com/sydney-hobart/Vol%2010%20Docs/BUCKLEY%20Don.pdf

 

[wiggins]

if you ever have to get rescued, like I have once, then its considered good form to stow the arrogance and act in a humble thankful manner to men who have risked their lives to save you. Not like these Team Jaguar fuckers...

http://www.equipped.com/sydney-hobart/Vol%2010%20Docs/BIBBY%20Thomas%20Francis.PDF

 

[dwdays]

I’ve been thru some Circle-Jerks and a couple Chinese Cluster-Fucks. Sailboat racing seems very similar.

 

[Bill Murray]

This is cool, thanks for posting.

I'd like to think of myself as being moderately brave and enjoy a healthy bit of risk but I've never had any desire for recreational or competitive boating. I don't mind being on the water, I don't get seasick but little boats make me nervous and there's too much sketchy shit that can happen.

I used to have a boss who was into competitive sailing and based on the videos he shared & his trophy wall I gather he was quite good. One of the videos was of a race from Hawaii to the mainland. I don't know if it was a hurricane or just a particularly violent storm but it effectively chased the race from start to finish. A few boats sank, a few dropped out, few guys died.....fucking crazy to see this completely black as a sambo's ass sky as a backdrop these relatively tiny boats.

The other thing my boss shared was that sailors are apparently thieving dinks. I guess its reasonably common for recreational and completive boaters to steal inflatable lifejackets off airplanes. They're compact & light so attractive as a backup. Not that it matters much since if your plane hits the water chances are you're not swimming away.

 

[wiggins]

This is cool, thanks for posting.

I'd like to think of myself as being moderately brave and enjoy a healthy bit of risk but I've never had any desire for recreational or competitive boating. I don't mind being on the water, I don't get seasick but little boats make me nervous and there's too much sketchy shit that can happen.

I used to have a boss who was into competitive sailing and based on the videos he shared & his trophy wall I gather he was quite good. One of the videos was of a race from Hawaii to the mainland. I don't know if it was a hurricane or just a particularly violent storm but it effectively chased the race from start to finish. A few boats sank, a few dropped out, few guys died.....fucking crazy to see this completely black as a sambo's ass sky as a backdrop these relatively tiny boats.

The other thing my boss shared was that sailors are apparently thieving dinks. I guess its reasonably common for recreational and completive boaters to steal inflatable lifejackets off airplanes. They're compact & light so attractive as a backup. Not that it matters much since if your plane hits the water chances are you're not swimming away.

Glad you liked it.

I've done a bit of crewing on mates boats including a race from Darwin to Indonesia but nothing in cold water and nothing storm worthy.

Bass Strait is a notorious stretch of water. Once a land bridge linking main land Aus to Tasmania it flooded over at end of last ice age 10 000 years ago. It's shallow (average 300 ') and when the winds come up from antarctica the waves rear up when they reach the shallows. Throw in some fast flowing currents against such winds and waves and the waves just get steeper.

If you like books about sailing when things fuck up I highly recommend Voyage for madmen A Voyage For Madmen

About the first solo circumnavigating race. One guy becomes psychotic and walks off his boat in the middle of the atlantic.

Also, anything of Shakleton's boat journey. I know of no other voyage that compares to the modified 20' open lifeboat decked with canvas that carried 4 men from Elephant Island on the coast of Antarctica across the southern ocean to the Falklands in the middle of winter...

The author, Worsley, was one of the crew.