18ft Skiffs - 'Near death' triggers call for crew safety review

by Bob Killick on 10 Nov 2016 Michael Coxon, the Skipper of 18ft Skiff Thurlow Fisher Lawyers... called for a Crew Safety meeting of all 18ft Skippers last Sunday, before crews rigged their skiffs for Race 2 of the NSW Championships.

Fresh in Coxon's mind was a near death experience for both bowman Trent Barnabus, main sheet Dave O'Connor.

Coxon explained, 'we were fully loaded under the three sails, and got a fresh one, which caused the rudder to stall out, and then we crashed in, still weighted on trapeze, with me landing on and pinning the boys under water' it was very scary situation, with both Coxon's crew trapped, Trent Barnabas wrapped up in the spinnaker, and David trapped under the skiff in his harness.

Coxon, believes that the18ftr racing crews should seriously look into carrying a personal oxygen dispenser as part of their harness, and that the harnesses used from now on, should be a quick release type.

The Camera Cat Team witnessed Thurlow's crash, and supports Michael Coxon's formal stance on this serious safety issue.

There can be no doubt that, 18ft Skiff racing is a dangerous high speed sport on windy days especially, but equally dangerous due to the potential of collisions with the many recreational boaters on Sydney Harbour.

This Michael Chittenden highlights video includes Thurlow's and other capsizes on that fresh NE race course.