Sea Rescues Did Us Proud

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday January 11, 1997

I gave up on Tony Bullimore. I said after four days in a freezing, stormy ocean that he was gone. Lost. Dead.

Those in charge of the search did not give up. The crews of the Orions did not give up. The crew of the frigate Adelaide did not give up. Most importantly, Tony Bullimore did not give up.

It made me wonder about the depth of human spirit and the will to survive. Is it also within us, who are safe and comfortable? We, who have not looked into the abyss and hung on for our very lives? I suppose we won't know until it happens.

I say damn the cost! It is a great example of human endurance against all odds and put on show to the world the trained, dedicated, professional men and women out there who are ready to help us in a life-or-death situation if we can only hang on.

John McLean,

January 10 Birrong.

The pinpoint accuracy of the Royal Australian Navy and Air Force in their miraculous rescue of all three lone yachtsmen was so thrilling that it still brings tears to our eyes.

The inestimable goodwill brought to our country by such navigational skills, expertise, co-operation, determination and courage under the most dreadful conditions makes us proud to be Australian and the cost is as nothing compared to our soaring international recognition and standing.

After all, what are the RAN and RAAF doing when not engaged in such exciting rescue missions (being a little flippant), sitting on their arses polishing brasses?

For the cost of the fuel they, with the help of the rescue co-ordination unit, have done this for all of us. Be proud, you silly complainers. It's great to have some really good news.

Frank and Joan Croll,

January 10 Woolwich.

I hope the historians, when they write the history of Australia, don't leave out the wonderful rescue of two yachtsmen from the great Southern Ocean by the Royal Australian Navy and Air Force on January 9, 1997.

The men on the Adelaide would have copped a hell of a hiding. The Air Force pilots in their old Orions must have felt as lonely as the men they went to rescue.

How proud it is to be an Australian.

Come on, Sydney, put on a ticker tape parade for all those brave sailors and airmen.

Perhaps the French will apologise for the slanderous remarks they made about Australians during the atomic bomb tests.

Peter Doyle,

January 10 Watsons Bay.

Rather than structural faults being the problem with the boats in the Vendee Globe sailing race as suggested by Scott Jutson (Herald, January 9), I am strongly inclined to think that these yachts are designed to turn turtle in the southern hemisphere as an insult to those of us who live "down-under" and "on the bottom of the World", common northern hemispheric notions that would have us all standing on our heads. As such we should leave these boating pranksters to their own devices, in the middle of the ocean on their upturned conveyances.

Richard Black,

January 9 Potts Point.

We met on Wednesday and discussed the present epidemic of yachts losing their keels in the ocean and causing great distress and expense as a result.

Between us we have competed in more than 35 Sydney to Hobart yacht races and sailed in many parts of the world over the last 35 years, including two Antarctic expeditions.

In the around-the-world single-handed yacht races, a simple solution is to make Bass Strait a part of the course.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has a separation arrangement for vessels passing through Bass Strait, which is marked clearly on maritime charts, to minimise the danger of collision.

This would have the effect of bringing yachts approximately 15 degrees further north than their existing course, around 55 degrees south latitude. Bass Strait is 40 degrees south.

Yacht designs for these races clearly produce yachts which are unsuited for these conditions.

The engineering required to attach a fin keel to a hull is insufficient to ensure the integrity of the design to meet the extreme conditions prevailing in the Southern Ocean.

Geoff Lee, yachtsman,

Rolfe Mische, yachtsman,

Warwick Hood, yacht designer,

January 9 Sydney.

I have to agree with Alan Brown (Herald January 9). The news coverage of the rescue by Australians of the lone sailors has had a profound effect on me. I can only imagine how I would feel if it were my husband, father or brother stranded in such horrific circumstances. Foolhardy maybe, but definitely courageous, and similar in fact to the spirit shown by our forebears to whom we owe our very existence. Perhaps we should all be relieved that life in the '90s has not managed to suck the life blood out of all of us just yet!

Lindy Oryl,

January 9 Turramurra.

During 1964-66, I served in Antarctica as a lieutenant in the Australian Army, operating amphibious vehicles. While I was never in the same danger as we have seen recently with the three yachtsmen, I can assure readers that these men were sailing in the worst waters that the world can provide. It is the loneliest place on earth and any hope of rescue is, even today, only a dream. Thanks to the talents of young Australians in the RAAF and RAN, the dream came off for three very intrepid men, particularly Tony Bullimore. Let's forget the cost. Good on the RAAF and Navy.

Ted Love,

January 9 South Coogee.

What a wonderful Australian rescue.

However did they manage it without Gary Sweet?

T. Pridham,

January 10 Croydon.

Recent rescues of round-the- world sailors have made Australia proud. Our country's men and women working in unbelievable conditions have again preserved life in places where few people on this planet will ever go.

But it is time for race organisers to put a little risk management into race planning.

Make an amendment to relevant international treaties requiring race organisers to provide two chase vessels, one at the front of the fleet, one at the rear. This would allow rescue operations to be deployed immediately if and when necessary.

While this may not eliminate all the risks associated with such adventures, it does further reduce the gap, and may result in lives being saved sooner. Sponsors, many of them corporate giants, should demand such a basic safety net for participants.

"Impossible! The cost!" we may hear race organisers cry. But consider this, it is only a matter of time before a law suit is filed against race organisers and perhaps even sponsors for negligence. Who is the winner then?

These sailors are an inspiration to us all. It is a duty that race organisers do all in their power to bring these brave men and women home and that includes providing the basic safety net of rescue.

John F. Walker,

January 9 Paddington.

May I suggest that Messrs Dubois and Bullimore be given free entry to the next Todd River regatta.

Bill Carpenter,

January 10 Bowral.

It was indeed pleasing to hear that "Tributes pour in for our heroes" (Herald, January 10) who took part in the rescue of Tony Bullimore and Thierry Dubois.

Perhaps a thought could be spared for the Australian taxpayer, the real hero in the drama, who goes to work for most of his life for the privilege of financing the recovery of these carefree, careless adventurers when something goes wrong while they are pursuing their hobby.

Walter Bass,

January 11 Turramurra.

Let not the "bean-counters" be heard hissing about the money being spent on the rescue by the RAAF and by the Navy of this country of the solo yachtsmen in one of the most desolate ocean patches on the Earth's surface.

The bravery and technical expertise of these highly trained people resulted in the saving of the lives of men willing to "have a go" in one of the toughest of all sports, round-the-world solo yacht racing.

These rescues form but part of the role of the people, whether as volunteers or for wages, who offer their services and their skills and themselves to protect and, where needed, save the rest of us.

Such service cannot ever be reduced to dollars and cents, and let us hope that it never will be.

Malcolm Bruce,

January 9 Elizabeth Bay.

What remarkable professionalism the members of our Air Force and Navy have shown in locating and rescuing four sailors in the Southern Ocean in the last two years. Operating at the limits of their equipment in terrible, unforgiving seas and weather, they have done wonderful deeds.

All Australians should be enormously proud of these serving personnel who have quietly and so clearly demonstrated to the world that Australia is serious about its international nautical responsibilities and has the expertise to fulfil them.

T. W. Campbell,

January 9 Braddon (ACT).

The recent attempts at rescue of the three sailors in the Vendee Globe round-the-world yacht race have prompted me to write this letter.

While I think it is an excellent and useful way in peacetime to utilise our armed forces, and I applaud their skill and professionalism, I think it is wrong to expect the Australian Government to pay such excessive amounts for the rescue of foolhardy thrill-seekers in a voluntary race. The financial cost is excessive, but more so is the value of the lives at risk of those attempting the rescues.

Although Australia is dutybound to an international air sea rescue convention, should this include a race that condones its competitors flirting with the almost certain life-threatening conditions of the area?

Should this race be excluded from the convention and should not the cost of the rescues be borne by either the race concerned or by the private insurance of the competitors?

Diana Craven,

January 8 Clovelly.

My word, Channel 9, nothing like a good maritime rescue, eh?

And the cost? Priceless.

G. Long,

January 9 Chatswood.

In order to get some balance on the issue of Australian taxpayers paying for the rescue of various lone sailors in the Southern Ocean, it is necessary to have some history and facts at our fingertips.

The Orion aircraft used by the Australian Air Force were purchased after pressure from the US in 1964 and were used by the Australian Defence Force to fly millions of kilometres in the vain search for Soviet submarines in our waters.

Since the Cold War has ended, the aircraft are being used to search for submarines and to participate in extremely expensive military exercises both here and overseas. The cost of fuel and maintenance is horrific and goes to make up part of the $26 million a day which is wasted in the military budget.

In the last two years, Orion aircraft have been usefully used to save sailors in the Southern Ocean on three occasions. These operations have the added advantage that their aim is saving lives in contrast to the Orion's usual role in the planning of how to kill people and where to target weapons.

Any discussion of the cost to taxpayers should take these facts into account. We might also remember that, while saving lives, the defence forces also get real, practical training.

Denis Doherty,

January 8 Glebe.

What a wonderful day! The two stranded yachtsmen, Thierry Dubois and Tony Bullimore, are alive and well, having survived extraordinary ordeals in a cruel and unpredictable sea thousands of kilometres from their homes.

Congratulations to ALL the people from the various services who took part in the rescues. Aussies are bloody marvellous - courageous, tenacious and full of ingenuity.

However, in the midst of the euphoria and goodwill, a plea from the heart. Don't let the squabbling and the nitpicking start (or continue) about the money involved in the rescues. We have to do it and we do it well.

The world is a better place because of adventurers and dreamers like Peter Goss, Raphael Dinelli, Thierry Dubois, Tony Bullimore and others who dare to defy the odds.

We can't all sit at home hoping nothing will happen to us, passing our days glued to the television; we need brave men and women to let us know we are alive.

Again, what a great day!

Alexandra Hynes,

January 9 Rozelle.

I appreciate that rescued solo sailors have lost a great deal, and so, perhaps understandably, are anxious to recover something by selling their stories to the media.

However, requiring payment from those who inform the consumers of the Australian media, consumers who are the very people who financed their rescues, demonstrates arrant ingratitude. Sell exclusives for the rest of the world - but tell us about it for free.

If this proposal is impractical, then decency demands that they should freely tell everyone about how good Australians were to them in their time of need.

David O'Sullivan,

January 10 Ramsgate.

I can't get over the hero worship afforded to men who sail the treacherous seas, while, not so long ago, a woman in the same situation was derided as irresponsible and stupid.

Shirley Peters,

January 9 Ryde.

Australians may be proud of the skills and effort employed by our defence personnel in the recent sea rescues. Not so for our representatives who negotiated the sea rescue treaty which binds Australia to a hugely disproportionate share of the responsibility without some form of cost-sharing arrangement with the other nations.

W. B. Weiley,

January 10 Nelson Bay.