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Thursday June 21, 06:34 AM
Sailor cleared of failing to help in fatal race
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A man accused of failing to help a yacht from which a British Olympian was swept to his death in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race has been cleared of misconduct charges, sailing officials said.
Six sailors, including Briton Glyn Charles, died when a massive storm slammed into the 1998 Sydney-Hobart fleet in one of international yacht racing's biggest disasters.
Charles was a crewman on board Australian yacht Sword of Orion. A coronial inquest found last December that he died when stitching on a lanyard connected to his safety harness split when he was washed overboard. His body has never been found.
In a bitter aftermath to the race, Margaret Rintoul II skipper Richard Purcell was accused of gross misconduct for sailing past Sword of Orion but failing to help the stricken yacht, which had been dismasted and was drifting.
No blame was apportioned to Purcell after the separate, nine-month coronial inquest which criticised host club The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) for poor emergency procedures and weather officials for failing to warn competitors about the severity of the storm.
Purcell radioed Sword of Orion's position to race officials but did not turn his yacht back to help Sword of Orion. He has maintained since the incident that he did not turn back out of fear for his own crew.
INQUIRY
The CYCA held an inquiry to determine whether Purcell had been guilty of breaching rule 1.1 of the international Racing Rules of Sailing. The rule says boats must give all possible help to any person or vessel in danger.
The CYCA's protest committee said in findings given to Reuters on Thursday that Purcell had briefly seen an orange distress flare from Sword of Orion in "severe" weather but accepted evidence that his boat's engine had failed.
A CYCA statement said: "...in the light of the extreme weather conditions at the time and the fact that Margaret Rintoul II's own engine was no longer working, the decision not to turn back and render assistance was appropriate."
The club found that Margaret Rintoul II had been delayed in contacting race officials with Sword of Orion's position because of the volume of "mayday traffic" from other boats and that it had unintentionally followed incorrect mayday radio procedure.
It said Margaret Rintoul II had also not tried to contact Sword of Orion directly by radio.
"If such an attempt had been successful, it would have provided comfort but little assistance to the distressed vessel," the committee said in its findings.
RESOLVED
CYCA Commodore Hans Sommer said the club was happy the incident had been resolved according to yacht racing rules.
"We are also pleased with the outcome...there were clearly questions raised by the incident that needed to be addressed in the best interests of the sport," Sommer said.
Another 55 sailors were plucked from the sea and 12 boats sank or were abandoned when winds of up to 80 knots and waves as high as 25 metres (82 feet) battered the 115-boat fleet.
Changes to safety equipment and rules were put in place after the race.
Thursday June 21, 06:34 AM
Sailor cleared of failing to help in fatal race
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A man accused of failing to help a yacht from which a British Olympian was swept to his death in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race has been cleared of misconduct charges, sailing officials said.
Six sailors, including Briton Glyn Charles, died when a massive storm slammed into the 1998 Sydney-Hobart fleet in one of international yacht racing's biggest disasters.
Charles was a crewman on board Australian yacht Sword of Orion. A coronial inquest found last December that he died when stitching on a lanyard connected to his safety harness split when he was washed overboard. His body has never been found.
In a bitter aftermath to the race, Margaret Rintoul II skipper Richard Purcell was accused of gross misconduct for sailing past Sword of Orion but failing to help the stricken yacht, which had been dismasted and was drifting.
No blame was apportioned to Purcell after the separate, nine-month coronial inquest which criticised host club The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) for poor emergency procedures and weather officials for failing to warn competitors about the severity of the storm.
Purcell radioed Sword of Orion's position to race officials but did not turn his yacht back to help Sword of Orion. He has maintained since the incident that he did not turn back out of fear for his own crew.
INQUIRY
The CYCA held an inquiry to determine whether Purcell had been guilty of breaching rule 1.1 of the international Racing Rules of Sailing. The rule says boats must give all possible help to any person or vessel in danger.
The CYCA's protest committee said in findings given to Reuters on Thursday that Purcell had briefly seen an orange distress flare from Sword of Orion in "severe" weather but accepted evidence that his boat's engine had failed.
A CYCA statement said: "...in the light of the extreme weather conditions at the time and the fact that Margaret Rintoul II's own engine was no longer working, the decision not to turn back and render assistance was appropriate."
The club found that Margaret Rintoul II had been delayed in contacting race officials with Sword of Orion's position because of the volume of "mayday traffic" from other boats and that it had unintentionally followed incorrect mayday radio procedure.
It said Margaret Rintoul II had also not tried to contact Sword of Orion directly by radio.
"If such an attempt had been successful, it would have provided comfort but little assistance to the distressed vessel," the committee said in its findings.
RESOLVED
CYCA Commodore Hans Sommer said the club was happy the incident had been resolved according to yacht racing rules.
"We are also pleased with the outcome...there were clearly questions raised by the incident that needed to be addressed in the best interests of the sport," Sommer said.
Another 55 sailors were plucked from the sea and 12 boats sank or were abandoned when winds of up to 80 knots and waves as high as 25 metres (82 feet) battered the 115-boat fleet.
Changes to safety equipment and rules were put in place after the race.
