Nightmare at sea:

By Sebastien Destremau

Sydney-Hobart 1998 started on Boxing Day in gorgeous weather. The fleet had an exciting race towards the Heads out of the Harbour before turning right for the most exhilarating ride along the NSW coastline. After 12 hours of spinnaker sailing in demanding conditions, the fleet was hit by 45 to 50 knots of south westerly breeze in the middle of the first night.

Skippering a 47-footer called Ausmaid, I settled the crew into a routine of tough sailing and rest-time for my ten fellow crew members. Around 24 hours after the start, we noticed a line of blue sky coming rapidly towards us from the west. Anticipating the worst we decided to put the eight non-professional sailors down below while the three pros took care of the situation at hand.

At midday, we were suddenly hit by the strongest storm on record. The wind increased to 70 knots with gusts in excess of 85 knots during eight hours. The waves were enormous and each one of them could become fatal. My mates and I put the boat into survival mode as each wave was to be negotiated carefully in order to avoid Ausmaid being rolled over.

Under storm jib, we managed to sail through this terrible hurricane that decimated the fleet. Our radio antenna was lost and without any further contact with Race HQ, we were unable to understand the catastrophic situation unfolding for the rest of the fleet struggling into Bass Strait.

Third across the line a couple of days later and finishing second on handicap, it was only then that we discovered the extent of the drama as we stepped ashore in Hobart. Half of the fleet had retired and six lives were tragically lost at sea.

This was to be a human toll exceeding anything we knew in the history of any sailing event held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Lest we forget