Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
I do not publish reports like this for the sensational news they carry, but rather for what yachties following in the wake of people heading to these areas can learn.
The best way is to give a short synopsis of this report is to use the introduction which went like this: “Hurricane season was over, and the cruising community agreed; the weather map looked perfect for the 1 200-nautical mile passage from New Zealand to Tonga and Fiji. Eighty cruising yachts were at sea when a tropical depression formed suddenly and swept through the fleet with 75-knot winds and 35-foot seas. One yacht was lost with all hands, seven boats abandoned, three of those sunk, 21 crew rescued; how could it have happened? Could the tragedy have been prevented? What are the lessons for cruisers heading offshore?”
In this special report Tom Linskey talks to the skippers who lost their boats, and to the people who rescued them.
READ IT ALL HERE: Pages from 1994 08 – SA Yachting – OCR
