The loss of Koomooloo

by Mike Freebairn, Peter Campbell and Rob Kothe on 11 Jan 2007 Koomooloo, the 1968 Sydney to Hobart winner sprung a leak in six metre seas and 30 knot winds, 60 miles off Narooma on the second morning of the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart race and issued a MAYDAY at 9:30am. Mike Freebairn and his father Don had spent the last ten years restoring the Kaufman-designed 41-footer to her former glory, it was for the family their life, and it was a gut wrenching decision to abandon the sinking boat. Mike talks about the loss of Koomooloo.

‘We have owned Koomooloo for approximately ten years. Koomooloo's construction was quadruple ply cold moulded construction (horizontal Oregon, two opposing diagonal Oregons and an outer layer of horizontal mahogany) with laminated ribs on 12 inch centres.

'The hull was dynelled from the waterline down from new. The hull had been blasted carefully to expose the dynel and then re epoxied, faired and antifouled.

'She was built by the Quilkey brothers who were renowned for their build quality. They have built many of Australia’s Classics including Love and War.

'At the time of Koomooloo's sinking the yacht was in as good a condition as she had been for many years. The teak deck had been replaced (ply on ply with 13mm teak over, no fastenings required for the teak) mast refurbished and painted, varnished completely re-applied, all deck fittings refastened, new sails and updated electronics and the list goes on.

'Koomooloo was one of Australia's most well travelled yachts and had completed over 10,000nm in the previous two years.

'To many including previous owners, the builders, many other sailors as well as the crew and myself, it is with disbelief that Koomooloo has sunk.

'As we did not find where the water was coming in it will remain a mystery (as to why it sunk). On the 27th of December we were well placed following a good night of beating into a confused and fairly short sea and wind strength of around 20 - 28 knots.

'It was around 9.30am that the water ingress was noticed. I believe most boats found trouble in the earlier hours of the morning and around that time. We were approximately 70 miles offshore and were expecting the breeze to abate somewhat and bend to the left. We were approaching a band of clouds to sea which we were going to assess. We had just crossed tacks with Gusto and Aurora was in sight and a mile or so directly in front. Analysis of the race shows boats in the area that continued on to sea faired well, including Another Challenge.

'The breeze had moderated to around 20-22 knots which on average was down.

'The conditions were not too extreme and not overly unfamiliar, they were however uncomfortable. The sea state was around four-six metres. The swells were starting to be further apart. There was a significant southerly set estimated to be around four knots. This was obviously carrying the boat over the swells at an increased rate. The boat speed was around six -seven knots, however reduced to below five at times when approaching or driving through the swell and waves.

'One problem was that occasionally the waves would double up creating a bigger drop on the other side. The set was also occasionally creating a wave that would double back down the port side and fill the cockpit from the leeward side.

'While Koomooloo has a deep V forward and not a flat bottom, there was rarely a significant impact. The reduced breeze and occasional steep wave however made it difficult to really bring the bow away rapidly.

'At the time of the incident there was a fairly hard impact after which we completed a check of the yacht. The rig was ok, steering fine and all well. Another wave or two later and the water was over the floorboards.

'The ingress of water was rapid and we immediately went into the procedure of preparing to board the raft and radio a Mayday. That was how urgent the situation was.

'We were able to tack the boat and head towards land and immediately began to bail and pump while looking for the leak. Knowing the boat well I began to look for the hole.

'With the boat being laminated ply with cross diagonal plies it is not likely that a plank was sprung, nor is it likely that the mast went through the bottom of the boat with a very large beam supporting it, not to mention the length of keel. Looking at photos of the boat out of the water it is hard to comprehend this possibility.

'We removed as many floorboards as possible to no avail. We were wading in knee deep water feeling around the floor. We also checked as many through hull fittings as we could. Due to the internal fit out it was not possible to access all areas of the boat. We discarded a lot of loose items and sails to improve access. Areas we could not access included a lot of the boat forward of the mast, areas under the port side settee and port of the midships engine, most of the area aft of the companionway, under the starboard side berth and a few other areas. With the volume of water onboard it was not possible to visually see any flood of water.

'Having spoken to the pilot of one of the helicopters they have reported the sighting of what appears to be a hole on the aft port side. This is aft of any significant impact area and may be the result of hitting an underwater object. This possibility has not been ruled out.

'In the time it took for the British Army team aboard Adventure to arrive the sea state and breeze abated rapidly. Therefore the transition to the rescue boat went very smoothly.

'Stepping off the boat was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I did have a good look around the boat at all we had done and felt proud to have been a part of her history (the tears did come later).

'There are lessons to be learnt here and we hope this will help prevent future losses of boats and improved safety for crews in this race. One includes direct access to a salvage service.

‘The other is that this can obviously happen to any boat and crews really should train for the event. We certainly felt comfortable that the boat was handling the conditions well and would be one of the last boats to suffer. I am proud of my crew’s professionalism as they went into a practised procedure of preparing the safety gear and addressing the situation without panic.'

Further details on the history of Koomooloo are available at www.koomooloo.com

Dates for the celebratory drink, some might call it a wake for the boat are as follows

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Friday 19th January. Members lounge from 6.30pm.

Peter Campbell, the internationally known yachting journalist, provided some history for Sail-World.com later in the day, as the news of the loss of Koomooloo came out.

‘It is a sad ending to a fine and internationally successful ocean racing yacht; in particular Mike Freebairn and his father Don, from Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. They had spent a decade in lovingly restoring the 41-footer and it made its comeback to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race in the 2004 race, retiring in heavy conditions.

'Last year, in more favourable weather, Koomooloo sailed a splendid race, winning IRC Division on corrected time and 22nd on IRC overall results. At one stage, she looked a possible winner of the Tattersalls Cup – repeating her victory of 1968.

'By the way she was going until this morning, the classic sloop was again looking a strong prospect for victory in a race that so far has favoured to smaller and older boats on progressive corrected times.

'Sydney yachtsman Ted Kaufman designed Koomooloo, with acknowledged input by the late Ben Lexcen (Bob Miller) as a bigger version of his Admiral’s Cup yacht Mercedes III. Master craftsman Cec Quilkey built the boat, with its superbly varnished mahogany topsides, for young Sydney yachtsman Denis O’Neil, who skippered her to victory in her first Hobart Race in 1968. Navigator that year was the renowned Richard Hammond, who we