Sailing for the Devil - in a skiff across Bass Strait

Tasmanian Devil - about to be wiped out by mysterious disease SW

Crew ready for anything - including Bass Strait © SW

Two University of Tasmania sailors Adrian Beswick and crew Josh Phillips have crossed Bass Strait, one of the most difficult crossings in ocean racing, in a 14ft skiff to raise awareness of the near extinction of the Tasmanian Devil. Bass Strait is well known to ocean sailors world wide as the lethal crossing in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart annual race.

As the winds from the Southern Ocean whip the ocean into vast following seas and they pass under the southern coast of Australia, their journey is interrupted by the shallow waters of Bass Strait and the land mass of Tasmania, occasionally turning the waters into a maelstrom.

The Tasmanian devil is the largest carnivorous marsupial animal in the world, now only exists in Tasmania. Recently a cruel disease in the form of a facial tumour is threatening the very survival of the animal. Beswick and Phillips set out to bring some awareness to the plight of the animal, and raise money for research to find a cure before the species is wiped out, by making the crossing in their small skiff.

They left Stanley on Tasmania's north west coast at 6.00am on Tuesday. They travelled with one mainsail and one spinnaker, and planned to arrive at Wilsons Promontory on the Australian mainland about 1400.

But with rough seas and the Wilsons Promontory National Park closed because of bushfires, the pair finally sailed into Walkerville, near Wilsons Promontory, about 10.20pm.

The skiff that crossed Bass Strait © SW

They had also hoped to beat the record small sailing vessel crossing of 13 hours and one minute set in 2005 by solo sailor Michael Blackburn in a Laser dinghy.

'It was slower than we expected. We had two to three metre swells and the seas were pretty choppy. We wanted to put up a spinnaker and go all the way under kite but we had to drop it because we kept nose-diving the boat and tipping over,' Mr Phillips told AAP.

The danger to the species is critical. It has already spread to 59 per cent of Tasmania, causing devil populations in those areas to decline by up to 86 per cent, figures released this year show.

The sailors have been struck by the devils' plight and want to raise at least $100,000 to help fund research for a cure to the disease. They have raised $55,000 so far.

'In the past 10 years, 50 per cent of the population has been wiped out and the scientists think that in 20 years time, they will be extinct in the wild.

'That doesn't give us a lot of time to find some options, maybe immunisation or sanctuary parks.

'We've got to act quickly or we will lose what we think in Tassie is a natural icon.'

It was recently added to the endangered species list and while research is being conducted to find a solution, time is running out for this famous Tassie icon.

The crossing will raise money for the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal which is the fundraising arm of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. All proceeds to The Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal are directed IN FULL towards scientific research and management programs for the devil across the globe. So when donating you know that ALL the money raised from the Strait4devils Appeal minus costs will be going directly to the source for research into a solution.

To donate money to the cause, go to www.tassiedevil.com.au or the www.strait4devils.com.au


About the Tasmanian Devil:

The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial now found in the wild only in the Australian island state of Tasmania. The Tasmanian Devil is the only extant member of the genus Sarcophilus.

The size of a small dog, but stocky and muscular, the Tasmanian Devil is now the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world after the extinction of the Thylacine in 1936. It is characterised by its black fur, offensive odor when stressed, extremely loud and disturbing screech, and ferocity when feeding. It is known to both hunt prey and scavenge carrion and although it is usually solitary, it sometimes eats with other devils.

The Tasmanian Devil became extirpated on the Australian mainland about 400 years before European settlement in 1788. Because they were seen as a threat to livestock in Tasmania, devils were hunted until 1941, when they became officially protected.

Since the late 1990s devil facial tumour disease has reduced the devil population significantly and now threatens the survival of the species, which in May 2008 was declared to be endangered.