It's Official - Ghost Cat Deaths 'Accidental'

by Peter Michael, Courier Mail/Sail-World on 9 Aug 2008 Three yachtsmen who vanished off the ghost ship Kaz II while sailing off the Australian east coast probably died by drowning or shark attack after an ill-fated man-overboard rescue attempt.

The incident is likely to have happened before lunch on the first day of their 'trip of a lifetime'.

Queensland State Coroner Michael Barnes yesterday handed down his findings into the mystery disappearance of skipper Derek Batten, 56, and brothers Peter and Jim Tunstead, 69 and 63, in April last year.

The 10.6m catamaran, likened to the archetypal ghost ship the Mary Celeste, was found drifting unmanned and under sail off the Great Barrier Reef four days after leaving port.

Despite an exhaustive four-day search and a privately funded week-long hunt by the family, no trace has been found of the three 'devoted' family men.

Numerous theories abounded in one of the great nautical mysteries of modern times.

Some included a mid-sea raid by pirates; a scuffle; a fishing mishap; or a sudden gust, known as a 'bullet wind', knocking all three overboard.

Mr Barnes, handing down his findings in Townsville Coroner's Court, offered his own scenario, based on video footage, witness accounts and the state of the yacht.

'An obvious explanation is (Jim) or Peter fell in while trying to retrieve a lure found wrapped around the port-side rudder and the other went to his aid,' he said. 'Falling in would be easy and getting back on board nearly impossible.'

He said the skipper Des probably left the helm to go forward and drop the sails in a man-overboard drill but was knocked overboard by a swinging boom.

'I therefore conclude that the men were all in the ocean, without life jackets, soon after they passed George Point,' Mr Barnes said.

'From that point, the end would have been swift. None of them was a good swimmer, the seas were choppy; the men would quickly have become exhausted and sunk beneath the waves. Although I can't exclude the possibility of a shark attacking them, drowning is a far more likely cause of death.'

He said the death of the three hard-working Perth family men was best described as a misadventure at sea or freak accident.

Outside court, an emotional Jenny Tunstead, wife of Peter, thanked police for their care and compassion and welcomed the findings.

'The inquest has helped us with some of our questions,' she said, flanked by 21 family members who sat silently throughout the inquest. 'We hope the findings will reduce the risk of this happening to other families.'

The families agreed the man overboard and 'swinging boom' theory was the most plausible explanation.

The coroner ruled out the men staging their disappearance and found no evidence of foul play.

It is haunting to imagine them treading water, without any flotation devices, as the yacht disappeared over the horizon sailing on auto-pilot. The men had embarked on a trip of lifetime to sail the $180,000 Osprey catamaran around the top of Australia to Perth in a two-month journey.

The unmanned Kaz II, with the engine running in neutral and with a shredded head sail, was spotted by a Coastwatch plane adrift on the Great Barrier Reef 160km northeast of Townsville on April 18.

Eerie video footage of the last moments alive of the three sailors showed them fishing and joking.

Veteran skippers and fishermen told the inquest this week how the ocean north of the Whitsundays yields to treacherous reefs, currents and shoals.