What would you save?

Image

Posted on by

What would you save?

Some only save the important things 🙂

The above photo was taken immediately after a yachting accident on Sydney Harbour, you have to have a chuckle at the chap on the left who managed to ‘save’ a bottle of ‘something’.

Now a little quiz , why are the men positioned in the water the way they are?

Sorry for the non NZ photo but I’m having hard-drive issues so had to grab an image off my laptop.

Harold Kidd’s answer in the REPLYS section was right – they are hiding from the SHARKS

Comment from Robin Elliott

Saying it is all due to sharks is a bit extravagant and the Aussie skiffies still love to put the willies up any visitors with wild-eyed warnings of a possible chomping amputation during a capsize.

It really has less to do with sharks and more about sensible weight distribution while awaiting a tow. Those boats had NO buoyancy whatsoever other than the wooden hull and spars, and having 9-10 heavy crew all sitting on the capsized hull would just push it (and the sitting crew) further down under the water – making crew drowning a more likely possibility than shark attack. The spars were solid timber and also gave support to a crewman.
In that photo, the crewman in the very centre is out on the bowsprit while the others are spaced out on the mast and gaff, no doubt sitting on the sails as indicated. Sharks were (and still are) a consideration but there many more reported instances of shark attacks on swimmers on the ocean beaches (e.g Manly) than on capsized yachtsmen on the inner harbour.

While I tripped across the odd report of a curious shark, mooching about a nervous crew waiting for a tow, in actuality they were really quite rare (and I ploughed through over 100+ years of 18-footer racing reports, club minutes, records etc in NSW and QLD). The most alarming (but funny) occurrence was in February 1932 when Paddy Griffith’s Shamrock reported that a 3-foot grey nurse shark leaped aboard during the race. The forward hand beat it to a pulp with the spinnaker pole.

Can you imagine the adrenalin rush? Pity it wasn’t filmed.

Discover more from waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 14+ million views

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

8 thoughts on “What would you save?”

  1. Saying it is all due to sharks is a bit extravagant and the Aussie skiffies still love to put the willies up any visitors with wild-eyed warnings of a possible chomping amputation during a capsize.

    It really has less to do with sharks and more about sensible weight distribution while awaiting a tow. Those boats had NO buoyancy whatsoever other than the wooden hull and spars, and having 9-10 heavy crew all sitting on the capsized hull would just push it (and the sitting crew) further down under the water – making crew drowning a more likely possibility than shark attack. The spars were solid timber and also gave support to a crewman.
    In that photo, the crewman in the very centre is out on the bowsprit while the others are spaced out on the mast and gaff, no doubt sitting on the sails as indicated. Sharks were (and still are) a consideration but there many more reported instances of shark attacks on swimmers on the ocean beaches (e.g Manly) than on capsized yachtsmen on the inner harbour.

    While I tripped across the odd report of a curious shark, mooching about a nervous crew waiting for a tow, in actuality they were really quite rare (and I ploughed through over 100+ years of 18-footer racing reports, club minutes, records etc in NSW and QLD). The most alarming (but funny) occurrence was in February 1932 when Paddy Griffith’s Shamrock reported that a 3-foot grey nurse shark leaped aboard during the race. The forward hand beat it to a pulp with the spinnaker pole.

    Can you imagine the adrenalin rush? Pity it wasn’t filmed.

    Like

  2. 100% correct Harold. Sharks were always a concern. In the late 1980’s I saw the shark net get pulled in at Manly Beach, the sight should have been enough to make every aussie swim in the ‘pen’ – it was not 🙂

    Like

  3. I have never sailed on Sydney Harbour, although I had the chance to go to Sydney with John Chapple in the Flying Twelves. Sydney yachtsmen WERE worried about sharks when they canned out and it was common practice to get in the sails as a refuge. No doubt Robin Elliott can tell us more on that subject.

    Like

  4. The owner, professional skipper, tactician and mainsheet trimmer are sharing the bottle and standing on the boat. The others are just movable ballast and have to tread water. Sydney has always been a city dependent on class.

    Like

Leave a comment