Humble opener saves yacht

Press, 10 December 1983, Page 10

Humble opener saves yacht

NZPA-AAP Mackay A 96c can-opener saved a disabled sAust7o,ooo yacht from foundering in fivemetre seas off Mackay in north Queensland on Thursday. “Thank God for canopeners. We owe our boat to that humble can-opener,” said the skipper of the 12 metres C-Breeze, lan Wilson.

He and three crew members spent four hours steering the dismasted ycht through heavy seas to Mac Kay Havbour with a canopener keeping the tiller together after the split-pin bolt was washed overboard. Two of the crew were taken to Mac Kay Base Hospital for treatment. Mr Wilson said that the yacht was between Prudhoe and Scawfell islands, just north of Mac Kay Harbour, when it was dismasted and the steering wrecked.

“For about 15 minutes there was pandemonium on board as we tried to get the fallen mast overboard and set up the tiller for steering,” said a crew member, John Bundell.

“The waves were huge. They were not just big green waves, but white tops breaking over on to the boat.

“We had a few hairy scrapes trying to get things in order. The bolt-cutters would not cut the wire ropes surrounding the mast and we had to undo them by hand. “Then our lift-rate came adrift from its moorings and it looked like being washed overboard before we managed to lash it down.”