Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2006 Übersicht 30 December, 2006 7:24:00 PM AEDT | Racetime 04:06:24:00 Adventure tells of dramatic rescue Adventure, the yacht that diverted to rescue the crew of Ray White Koomooloo, has arrived in Hobart. The big steel boat, a former BT Challenge yacht sailed by members of the British Army Royal Signal Corps, crossed the finish line a little after 1pm today, four days and six minutes after crossing the start line in Sydney. Her skipper, Major Charles Roberts, says that he and his crew have had the race of their lives, made even more memorable by their dramatic rescue of Koomooloo’s crew after the classic wooden yacht split open after falling off a big wave on Wednesday morning. Adventure vor dem Rennen “We heard the distress call and as soon as we worked out we were close the race was completely forgotten,” Roberts said. “We were about 8 miles away (from Koomooloo). At the time we were close hauled but as soon as we pulled away the boat shot up to 13 knots.” It took about 40 minutes for Adventure to reach Ray White Koomooloo. All that time they maintained radio contact, though at one stage the VHF on the stricken yacht packed up and they had to rely on a hand held radio. “We hoped they could hear us but we couldn’t hear them,” Roberts recalled, “so we kept barking instructions down the radio hoping they could hear them, and they did.” When they got to the scene they found Koomooloo running downwind in a three to four metre swell with breaking seas. “She was very low in the water, very sluggish, doing about two knots,” said Roberts. “We would have asked them to heave-to but in doing so we think they would have tipped the boat over, which would have scuttled her straight away. “We held station 50 or so metres away. One thing I was worried about was that they were going very slowly and, at two knots in those conditions, Adventure loses her steering.” Roberts was worried that if his 50 tonne steel yacht hit Koomooloo she would have caused even more damage to the wooden boat. Eventually Koomooloo’s crew decided to abandon their beloved boat. With the stricken yacht still flying her mainsail and the boom out over one side, Richards realised that a boat to boat transfer was too dangerous. Koomooloo’s crew transferred to her liferaft and then onto the British yacht. “Adventure is a big steel boat,” said Roberts. “We were in rough seas. We were in the right place at the right time but I guess we also had the right boat. Luck comes into sailing quite a lot” is how Roberts puts it. After transferring Koomooloo’s crew to the police launch Alert a few hours later, Adventure turned south again and resumed racing. “Doing this race has been the best experience of my life,” says Roberts. “I did the Fastnet last year but I felt very cheated because there was no wind. “This race has been a mixture - we’ve had strong wind, we’ve had almost no wind, but the whole excitement behind the event has made it special.” There are 13 boats still to finish the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart with the last boat, David Kent’s Gillawa set for a hat trick of wooden spoon finishes, due in 2.25pm tomorrow afternoon, 31 December. David Kent’s pre-race plan was to finish before New Year’s Eve and he looks set to realise that ambition. Meldung von Asiayachting.com: "Police boats were also sent to rescue eight sailors from Koomooloo, which won the race in 1968, after it started sinking 60 miles offshore. Her classic hull lines came from that Australian legend, Bob Miller, who changed his name to Ben Lexcen and created the America's Cup winning Australia II. Koomooloo was launched at a time when Australia was making its presence felt for the first time on the international ocean racing scene. Superbly crafted in laminated timber by the maestro Cec Quilkey in Botany Bay for Denis O'Neil and his merry crew sailed the yacht to outright handicap victory in the Hobart race the year she was launched -- 1968. She also represented Australia on two occasions in the world ocean racing teams championship, the Admiral's Cup, in Cowes, England. British yacht Adventure assisted in the recovery after Koomooloo skipper Mike Freebairn issued a mayday. ``We started ripping up the floor boards trying to find where the water was coming in,'' Freebairn told the race Web site. ``We started bailing for a while, then I decided for the safety of the crew that we'd better abandon. Like a piece of antique furniture, or a classic car, Koomooloo has always held a special appeal within its own world. That appeal was enough to lure Brisbane yachtsman Mike Freebairn into buying her a decade ago. Over the years he has done a magnificent restoration, working all the time to ensure the yacht retained her original charm. And she remained a competitive racer. Last year she won her division in the Sydney-Hobart, and until 60 nautical miles off Narooma, Ray White Koomooloo as she was known for this race, was reveling in her preferred conditions and again looking strong on handicap. Suddenly that all came to an end. Her hull was ruptured by the impact that came from crashing over a massive wave. Hours later, when the crew realised their effort to save the classic lady were in vain, they accepted rescue. A short time later Freebairn went through the gut-wrenching and highly emotional experience of turning his back on his beloved yacht for the last time. It was inevitable that she would soon disappear below the surface of the Tasman Sea. Copyright © 1996-2006 - SEGEL.DE