Widows Are Suing Regatta Organizers

Widows Are Suing Regatta Organizers
Widows Are Suing Regatta Organizers

Video: Widows Are Suing Regatta Organizers

Video: Widows Are Suing Regatta Organizers
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Yacht in a Storm 1998

The 1998 Sydney-Hobart race went down as one of the greatest tragedies in yachting history. The regatta field with 112 ships got into a hurricane of the century shortly after the start.

Wind speeds of over 150 kilometers per hour: In a very short time, more than 60 yachts got into distress, capsized or were dismasted. The largest air rescue operation in Australian history started, more than 40 sailors were rescued from their damaged or sinking yachts, six men died. Four of the widows of these sailors and a crew member who survived the disaster with serious injuries are now suing the organizers, the Yacht Club of Australia, and the Australian Weather Service. The reason for the lawsuit is likely to be the report by official coroner John Abernathy, which was published last year after a long investigation. Abernathy made grave allegations to the organizer: Technically, the regatta management was not adequately equipped to warn all yachts in time of the approaching storm. Apart from that, an unnecessarily long time had passed between the issuance of the weather warning by the meteorologists and the passing on to the regatta participants, and the written warning remained in the regatta office. In addition, the race committee is said to have approved one of the ships, the “Buisiness Post Najad”, for the race, although it did not meet the required stability requirements. In the wake of the Coroner's criticism, the racing rules for the notorious high seas classic have been tightened significantly. Much higher demands have been placed on the training of fellow sailors, the safety criteria of the ships and the type of weather information for years.

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