Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race - Pukana suffers mast damage

by Peter Campbell on 18 Dec 2013 The Launceston to Hobart Race will start off Inspection Head Wharf at Beauty Point at 10am today week, December 27th, giving the fleet slack water for the six nautical miles dash to Low Head and Bass Strait.

Pukana, the smallest and oldest yacht in the Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, has suffered mast damage in heavy seas in Bass Strait on its delivery voyage from Hobart to Beauty Point and may miss the race.

However, owner/skipper Andrew Matton-Johnson and his crew from Austin’s Ferry Yacht Club, are still hopeful a rigger may be able to repair the base of the mast in time to make the start next Friday, December 27. The yacht is currently at Triabunna on the East Coast.

Pukana is a Supersonic 27, now 40 years old, and the National Launceston to Hobart was to have been its first ocean race although Matton-Johnson has sailed in most previous L2H races on other people’s yachts. Pukana is the first entry in the race to represent Austins Ferry Yacht Club.

'A mast rigger and the insurance agent will look at the boat tomorrow, to see if the mast can be fixed in time and to check that there has been no serious damage to the integrity of the hull,' Matton-Johnson said in Hobart today. 'We would need to head north again from Triabunna to Beauty Point no later than next Sunday or Monday.'

Recalling the incident last Sunday, Matton-Johnson said: 'We had just come out of the Banks Strait into Bass Strait, just on dark….smoking along in a four metre swell and 30 knots of wind when we heard this almighty bang from the mast.

'We immediately took halyards forward to give further support for the rig, as it was clear it had been damaged, although we did know the full extent until next morning after running back for shelter in the lee of Swan Island.

'We had to decide to battle on against steep seas and strong winds to the River Tamar, go into Lady Barron or head back down the East Coast. We chose to head down to a safe berth at Triabunna under jury rig.

'The odds are against us making the L2H race, but we won’t know the final outcome for the next 24 hours.'

Matton-Johnson was delivering the yacht to Beauty Point with two of his regular crew, brothers Tony and David Schofield. He praised the offer of two other L2H entrants, Wings Three and The Fork in the Road for offering to stand by Pukana after hearing his radio call to Tamar Sea Rescue.

A late entry is Fish Frenzy, a 50-footer better known in Hobart as Cyclone. Owned and skippered by Stephen Keal, she will be the biggest but not necessarily the fastest boat in the 285 nautical mile race around Tasmania’s East Coast. 'The crew will have roast dinners and served capacinos at coffee breaks during their watches,' skipper Keal said today.