Researched and written by Chris Iacono and Julie Hodder

PROLOGUE

This article is dedicated to the Fesq family, for the wonderful work and commitment their father contributed to Australian sailing to help make it the yachting Nation that it is today.

Early in 2021 John Taylor, a sailing friend of mine from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, knowing that I was a member of the CYCA History and Archives Committee asked if I could help the Squadron by creating a record of all Squadron boats that had entered the Hobart Race since its inception. Also, could I add the owner, sail number, and the designer of the boats.

After a few weeks of researching old programs, books, magazines, and making many phone calls, I completed the catalogue. The one thing that eluded me was the designer of the yacht FORTUNA. I was unable to find any solid evidence for the designer.

I did finally find the answer, it was Percy Coverdale a yacht designer and builder from Hobart. During this project I became fascinated by this boat, its previous owners, its history, and where the vessel was now. With the help of sailing mates and making phone calls all around Australia, I started piecing together this story. I then sought the help of my colleague Julie Hodder, past Commadore of Middle Harbour Yacht Club & fellow member of the CYCA History & Archives Committee. Julie, with her vast array of friends was able to contact friends in New Zealand & so the trail began again. We tracked down more owners & finally the end to the story.

Chris Iacono

Chris Iacono, fellow archivist at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia started me down the path of discovery of what just what happened to the yacht Fortuna. She had such a grand life, starting in seven Sydney to Hobart races and travelling around the world twice! It was very sad when we discovered her ending, but I thought the story of this magnificent lady should be told. It has been quite voyage of discovery, searching through archives and connecting with, (mainly through excellent Facebook yachting history sites) past owners and crew who loved and sailed on her. My love of yachting history has led me down the path of recording many lost stories. You can read some of these and record both your and any yacht’s history on my every expanding Boat Genealogy website.

Julie Hodder

ABOUT FORTUNA

Fortuna’s dimensions were: LOA 37ft, LWL 32 ft, Beam 11ft 2 ins, Draft 5ft 11 ins. Weight 7.8 tons

The 37’ yacht FORTUNA (Sail #2) was built in 1944 in Tasmania by Dr Ralph Whishaw and was officially launched in 1946.

It is generally agreed that she was designed by Percy Coverdale from the half model of his boat CHLOE. Many of Coverdale's boats did not have drawings and were built from carved half-models.

ABOUT PERCY COVERDALE

“Percival George Coverdale (1882-1963), yachtsman and boatbuilder grew up at Battery Point near the boatbuilding yards that had made the area famous.”

“Percy became known throughout Australia as a yachtsman and master boatbuilder. Devoted to the native timbers of Tasmania, he avoided plans and constructed his boats from hand-sculptured 'half-models', producing some of the finest craft on the Derwent.”

“His best-known yacht was WINSTON CHURCHILL in which he finished third in the inaugural Sydney to Hobart race in 1945; in other hands she continued to be a force in sailing for many years.

He also built LANDFALL WINDWARD, CHLOE, TELOPEA and FRANCES, the last of which he built for himself in 1961.

Percy Coverdale was a great raconteur who addressed his listeners as 'mate'. Lean and wiry, with a pipe perpetually clenched between his teeth, and a reputation for being touchy, he welcomed those who shared his passion for boats and sailing.” (Article from Maritime Museum of Tasmania )

*Percy Coverdale Maritime Museum of Tasmania*

FORTUNA has had seven owners. She has sailed in seven Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races under Sail #2, with her best position being 4th in the 1950 and 1951 Races. After that she sailed twice around the world with two different owners.

This is her Story

HISTORY OF OWNERSHIP

1947 TO 1949 – DR RALPH WHISHAW

Master Ralph Whishaw was born on 29 March 1895 in Croydon, Surrey, his father, Reginald Robert Whishaw 1 (1863-1908), was 32 and his mother, Isabel Rhoda Whishaw (1863-1899), was 32. In 1903, when Ralph was aged 7, the family moved to Australia after his father was widowed.

In 1921 Ralph married Doreen Violet Beckley (1903–1988), who had come across from Victoria with her father who was to manage the Cascade Brewery. They lived happily in a delightful old rambling, secluded home overlooking the beautiful Derwent estuary. Their home was appropriately named Sentosa, a Malayan word meaning "house of peace and contentment". They had one child (Dai Whishaw – 1930 to 2000) during their marriage. Dai Whishaw (1930-2000) was married to Brian Curtis and they had one son who we cannot trace.

Ralph served in both World Wars. In the Second World War, he as a major with AAMC in the Middle East from 1941 to 1942.

After the war, he studied medicine and in 1957, he was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his distinguished services to medicine as vice-president of the Royal Australian College of Physicians and honorary senior physician and senior cardiologist at the Royal Hobart Hospital. In 1958 he became a Knight Bachelor and was honoured as Sir.

It was at 650 Sandy Bay Road, Hobart, where Ralph built FORTUNA for his own use under the supervision of Mr. Percy Coverdale, and she was officially launched in 1946. He sailed the Fortuna in the Sydney-Hobart race in 1947, coming home in fifth place.

His subsequent leisure activities included cabinet making and photography and the accompanying photograph is a self-portrait. He pursued his hobbies with the same meticulous attention to detail which he displayed in his clinical practice.

He died on 13 July 1976 in Hobart, Tasmania, at the age of 81.

First Recording of the Yacht FORTUNA

THE MERCURY( FRI 12 OCT 1945), first reports FORTUNA racing in the Official Opening of Royal Hobart Regatta.

The article states “A. Palfreyman's MATTHEW FLINDERS and Dr Whishaw's FORTUNA are fine additions to the Derwent's fleet of cruisers. MATTHEW FLINDERS is slightly larger than WINSTON CHURCHILL, P. Coverdale's speedy craft.”

The Mercury Hobart reported on 24th November 1947, that in “The 55-mile race round Wedge Island in Storm Bay, conducted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania at the weekend resulted in a meritorious win on handicap for Dr R. Whishaw's Bermudan sloop, FORTUNA. ACTIVE was first across the line. It was FORTUNA's first start in an ocean race, and she sailed particularly well.”

The same newspaper on Tuesday 23rd Dec, reported on the yacht’s troubles on its voyage to Sydney for the 1947 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. She not only sprang a petrol leak in heavy seas halfway across Bass Strait, and three gallons of petrol poured into the bilge, but also lost steerage and then nearly ran into a whale off the East Coast of Tasmania.

The newspaper also mentions the other names of FORTUNA's crew, namely: Navigator: Mr Jackson, M.H.A. Crew: Messrs. D. Burridge, Gordon Hopkins, JIm Mitchell, and D. Knight, of Hobart.

With Dr Ralph Whishaw at the helm, she competed in the 1947 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and finished 5th out of 28 boats, in just under 6 days and 6 hours.

At the start it was reported

“When the starter's flag went up, the 28 yachts were spread out over almost a mile and several were badly left at the Heads. FORTUNA was lightly rammed by a private yacht, whose jib went through the FORTUNA's rigging. She lost some time freeing herself”.

The 1947 race was won by WESTWARD (GD Gibson) who took a more Westerly course and beam reached across Bass Strait whilst others were struggling it out in confused seas.

1949 TO 1958 WILLIAM FESQ

FORTUNA was sold to William Leverrier Fesq (born 1916) in Sydney February 1949.

William (or Bill as he was commonly known) was a Lieutenant in the Navy during WW2 and was awarded a DSC (Distinguished Service Cross).

Bill Fesq was a Flag Officer of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron from 1959 to 1978 and Commodore from 1975 to 1978.

He was an avid sailor and was navigator for Gordon Ingate on the CAPRICE OF HUON in the original Australian challenge at the Admiral’s Cup.

In 1970, he represented the Squadron at Newport for the Americas Cup and became the navigator on GRETEL II. In the trials against the French they won four nil. The last race was a stunning whitewash, sailed in foggy conditions. It is reported on the Australian National Museum website “GRETEL II’s navigator Bill Fesq piloted the yacht around the course in total confidence of their position, while the French yacht got lost and retired.”

FORTUNA, under the ownership of Bill, competed in the 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952 Sydney to Hobart yacht races.

On March 27th, 1949, it was reported she made her first Sydney appearance sailing with Royal Naval Sailing Association and won the race on the Harbour in boisterous conditions.

The 1956 Register of Yacht shows Bill Fesq registered her as FORTUNA REDUX meaning “One who brings another safely home”.

1949 - 5th SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE

In 1949, FORTUNA (W Fesq), was reported as coming 5th with a time of 6 days, 2 hours, 5 minutes and 7 secs.

Sailing with Bill were crew members T. M. Wayland, Ron DuChateau, brothers Archie and Ron Robertson as well as two skippers of previous Hobart racers - Colin B. Haselgrove (NERIDA), and G. L. Carter (GYMEA).

List on Yachts and crew in the 1949 Sydney to Hobart Race

1950 – 6TH SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE

The 1956 SHR Official Program reports that in the 1950 race “the Hobart Race fleet would find itself sailing into howling southerly from the crack of the starting gun. Their prediction proved correct; for the first time in the history of the contest, crews bore into headwinds for two-thirds of the southward course.” FORTUNA came a credible fourth.

In the leadup to Hobart, on the Montagu Island race, FORTUNA, sailing in second place, was set to win on handicap.

*“Fortuna,' skippered by Bill Fesq, was 35 minutes behind. Lass O'Luss passed the light-house at 5 p.m.” (Sydney Morning Herald 2 Oct 1950)*

1951 7th SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE

FORTUNA sailed her fourth Hobart in 1951. This was a record breaking year with the first 3 boats, MARGARET RINTOUL, LASS O’LUSSand STRUEN MARIE all breaking the course record set by MORNA in 1948.

Fortuna again came a credible 4th again out of a fleet of 14, beating her own record to Hobart.

At one stage she was reported as leading the fleet. (Sydney Morning Herald 28th Dec 1951 - Sydney Yacht in Lead) – “Radio reports late last night put the Sydney cutter Fortuna at the head of the fleet in the Sydney-Hobart Yacht race.”

Eight Yachts Vie for Leadership

“Eight of the 14 yachts in the Sydney to Hobart Ocean race, late last night, were crossing Bass Strait on almost equal terms but with the 37ft Sydney cutter Fortuna holding a slight advantage.

Reports wirelessed from the mother ship, KURREWA III, to Station 2SM said FORTUNA was leading the fleet, about 25 miles south-east of Gabo Island lighthouse.”

The 35-foot cutter NOCTURN was about five miles north-west of Fortuna, with the 35-foot sloop STRUEN MARIE about seven miles north-east of the leader.

STRUEN MARIE had bad luck during the day, said KURREWA III. Rolling badly, she dipped her spinnaker boom under the water and ripped her spinnaker. She was now sailing with a masthead genoa and had reported she was making about eight knots.”

“At 3 p.m. KURREWA III was south of Green Cape. FORTUNA was then leading slightly from Lass o' Luss, followed by STRUEN MARIE, SOLVEIG, MARGARET RINTOUL, PAVANA and NIMBUS.

Only about 20 miles separated FORTUNA from NIMBUS.”

HANDICAP

“Livingstone said at that stage Struen Marie and FORTUNA appeared to be in the best positions on handicap.”

The Weather Bureau forecasts that the fresh following winds will continue to-day. It predicts north-east to northerly winds of 10 to 15 knots, and later up to 20 knots, slowly backing north-westerly. Seas should be smooth to slight, but moderate patches could develop this morning, the bureau said.

Mr. Tom Jacobs, the official controller of communications for the race, is arranging for a bagpipes chanter to be dropped from a Trans Oceanic Flying-boat to KURREWA III. this morning.

Mr. John Livingstone (part owner) reported by wireless late last night that he had sat on his bagpipes and asked if it would be possible for Mr. Jacobs to get him another chanter. As well as playing the bagpipes, Mr. John Livingstone is cook on the yacht.”

1952 – 8th SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE

The 1952 SHR Official Program shows FORTUNA sailing in her fifth Hobart. Reports say that the 1953 race was “Unlike all other events, light variable winds, interspersed with flat calms, plagued contestants over most of the 680 mile course, resulting in a slow nerve racking race.”

*FORTUNA’s official place was 10th in a fleet of 17, however at one stage she had a chance to win, before being becalmed and passed by Nocturne in the Derwent. Daily Telegraph 1st Jan 1953*

1958 TO 1964 – JAMES B GRIFFIN

In 1958, FORTUNA was sold to James B Griffin (in some documents spelt Griffen), head of the Retailers Association of Australia. James (known as Jimmy) competed in the 1958 and 1961 Sydney to Hobart yacht races. She was still owned by Griffin in 1963.

1958 – 14th SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE

The 1958 SHR Program, shows that FORTUNA was owned and skippered by J B Griffin and raced with the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. On board were Richard (Dick) Nossiter (son of Harrold Nossiter and navigator of Sirius on her round world cruise prior to the war), G Riddell, J Love, R Griffin (16 year-old son of owner, racing on Moth class) and Stan Begg (aged 17, races Moths).

The 1958 race was remembered “as a testing event with the lead changing may times as crews took advantage of light winds to get the best from their boats.”

Crew member Stan Begg recalls,

“I only did one Hobart. We struck the usual southerly during our first morning at sea and soon found that the boat was leaking like a sieve through the cabin sides, soon all below was awash with water over the floorboards and all bunks and bedding saturated. Griff and I spent half our watch every watch, tied down operating a little wobble pump attached to the cabin side, bloody miserable. We got to Hobart after New Year’s Eve if I remember right. Most of the crew left at Hobart leaving JB, Dick Nossiter, Griff and me to bring the boat home which turned into a pleasant sail. Cured me!”

In this year FORTUNA came 15th out of a fleet of 20.

1961 – 17th SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE

In 1961, FORTUNA sailed again under J B Griffin, for the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.

For the first day of the race, the wind was Southerly 20-30 knots then light NE winds. A line squall 70 miles long, passed of the fleet in Bass Strait, and was followed by a moderate SW. A NE along the Tasmanian cast and a Southern near Tasman Island alter the potential placings.

She came 32nd out of 35.

*The 1962 RSYS Yacht Register shows was still named as Fortuna Redux and owned by J. B.Griffin.*

1964 TO ABOUT 1967 - N. PRITCHARD

FORTUNA was then bought by N Pritchard who sailed her well into the 1970s. We believe she was sailed out of the Royal Motor Yacht Club Port Hacking. We can see her results in both the 1993 and 1994 Cruising Jibbon Time Trial in the Sydney Morning Herald.

1967 TO 1973 KEN FURLEY

FORTUNA was then bought by Ken Furley from the Port Hacking Ocean Yacht Club (PHOYC). He was a New Zealander and when he retired, he sailed her back to New Zealand. He returned to Sydney in early 1968 to sail FORTUNA around the World.

One of the crew, Warren Cholomonderly-Smith, who joined him for half the trip, said

“I meet Ken Furley in Auckland in 1967 he had brought Fortuna in Sydney and sailed her to NZ. He returned to Sydney in early 1968 and I joined him, and we went via the reef to Moresby, Rabaul, Darwin through Indonesia Seychelles to Madagascar then Durbin. Ken completed his circumnavigation then sold to a young couple.”

Warren provided me with some of his photos from this trip, including when they went aground off the Trobriand Islands.

Ray Weldon (Captain Rags), who also joined FORTUNA for part of the trip recalls:

“I joined FORTUNA in Durban 1970 sailed for Cape Town then on to St Helena where we spent 6 weeks there. There was also a South African crew, Conrad, on board we sailed on to the island Trinidad about 800 miles east of Rio. We then spent about 3 months sailing the east coast of Brazil, Dutch and French Guiana, then on to Trinidad. I left her in Grenada to become a charter yacht captain.”
“On FORTUNA we made up a twin spinnaker pole set up for the south Atlantic passage using two high cut foot jibs we called that particular sail a Yankee (Aussie term) it worked well.”

*FORTUNA Under Sail - Photo by Warren Cholomonderly*

The magazine Pacific Islands Monthly, reported that:

•Jun 1st, 1968 – “FORTUNA, 37 ft cutter, with skipper Ken Furley (45) and crew Ian Hodder (24) and WarrenSmith (24), will leave Sydney in June for the Queensland Great Barrier Reef and Darwin to start anaround-the-world trip, to take about four years. Ken told PIM he would be passing through the Islandsabout 1971 and would make calls in Tonga, Fiji, New Hebrides and Lord Howe Island.”
•Aug 1969 - FORTUNAwas mentioned being in the Trobriands, off Papua New Guinea whilst on a tripfrom Rabaul to Port Moresby.
•Feb 1st , 1970 – “FORTUNA, with skipper Ken Furley, Warren Smith, Peter Hewitt and R Goldie, was inDurban recently.”
•Oct 1st, 1973 – “FORTUNA, a New Zealand sloop, arrived at Rarotonga from Tahiti on August 6th withowner skipper Ken Furley and crew Dave Gray and Jeff Lareau. Fortuna left Auckland in 1968 on a worldcruise and dropped anchor in Indonesia, South Africa, South America, southern states of the US,Caribbean ports and Panama. Fiji will be visited before the return to New Zealand.”

*FORTUNA in the Durban Marina December 1969) -Photo by Warren Cholomonderly-Smith*

Graham Cox writes…

“David Matzenic’s mother Adrienne, sailed in company with FORTUNA on board the gaff cutter, Kelasa. The two boats then spent time in Durban together, and while there, David visited his mother and got to know Ken. I don't have a clear photo of Fortuna, but this one was taken alongside the International Jetty in Durban in 1970. She is outboard of the large trimaran”.

Nichole Mays adds…

This is a Photo of FORTUNA from the Facebook site “Boats and Ships Built at Battery Point, Tasmania” It shows FORTUNA approaching Castray, Bellerive Bluff in the background with “Robert Nettlefold” sitting in her wake.

1973 TO 1986 MIKE MORRISH

In 1973, Mike Morrish (now 77) brought FORTUNA off Ken Furley. He also travelled around the world on FORTUNA with his wife and children.

Mike tells us he first sailed her to Fiji , then on to the Solomon Islands, Gladstone, Melbourne, Hobart, Launceston and Sydney before returning back to back to NZ.

He then took off on his second trip to Sydney and worked 6 - 7 months at a boatshed in Middle Harbour.

Roger Streater recalls

“Whilst attached to the Water Police, Sydney, the late 70`s, she came into Sydney from New Zealand with a young couple on board and two small children. I had a conversation with them, and they told me they were seeking permanent residency, but because the vessel had been out of the Country more than 5 years it was subject to Duty”.

After that Mike took FORTUNA for her second trip around the world, going up the East Coast of Australia to Cooktown, Thursday Island, Darwin, Christmas Island, Durban. Cape town, Brazil, Caribbean Panama Canal, and American Samoa. He slipped the boat there before retuning back to NZ.

The Pacific Islands Monthly on 1st August 1980 reported the boat in Fiji with 4 crew on board. This could be the young couple and their children.

*FORTUNA - Photo supplied by Warren Cholomonderly-Smith & Mike Morrish*

1986 TO 1986 GRAHAM COPP

In 1986 Graham Copp, also from New Zealand bought FORTUNA from Mike Morrish. Graham was a carpenter from Remuera, just 4 miles out from the centre of Auckland and once again FORTUNA went under a major refit at nearby Panmure Yacht Club.

The Sea Spray (April 1986) magazine reports “What a labour of love had gone into that boat. Everything stripped out and down to bare timber. All that was left before rebuilding was a picture of Beatrix Potter’s Mr. Rat, affirming that there is nothing better than messing around in boats.”

After months of work, FORTUNA was ready to be launched again. Sea Spray Magazine reports that once being launched she “still gave the impression of being sold and seaworthy; a boat to which you would trust your life”.

For a while she was a familiar sight around the gulf with her twin headsails. Then Graham decided to sail her from the East Coast, around the top of New Zealand and down the west coast to her new home in Nelson. He intended to live on her in Nelson, so took all his possessions on board.

Author of the Sea Spray article Vivien Edwards tells the story directly from Graham: “The weather forecast had been good; north-easterlies 10 knots, and everyone said, "Go for it."

They rounded the Cape without problems, but then the weather deteriorated. The wind came up, there was a south-westerly swell, and at some stage the wind swung to the northwest. The seas became huge and confused, but Fortuna handled it well. Visibility was 10 to 20 yards in the driving rain, and at times only to the bowsprit. In the brief moments it cleared it was hard to distinguish between hills on land and mountains at sea. Navigational calculations had been done, and after clearing Cape Reinga they'd gone well out to sea. When they'd changed sail, FORTUNA made six knots under bare pole, then nine under storm jib.

It happened in the early hours during darkness. Graham was below trying to sleep. They'd had little rest for three days and he'd just done 6 ½ hours on the helm. The first indication anything was wrong was when the seas suddenly changed, becoming very steep, and FORTUNA felt different.

As Graham came on deck a massive wave landed aboard with such force it broke through the front hatch. The man on the helm would have gone had he not been harnessed. Everything inside was awash and floating, and the battery was flooded. The engine wouldn't start.

They'd hit an outer bar off Kaipara Harbour, but did not stick. FORTUNA, with a belly full of water, was unstable and to keep her on an even keel to pump her out they turned her stern to the seas, which meant straight for shore. At that stage she could have gone anyway, and to make land was probably the only chance the three men on board had.

After about a mile she hit again. This time she went over on to her bilge and buried her mast. It was still dark, and the crew thought they were still miles off-shore. Her insides filling with sand as well as water, they left her, and found they could wade to the beach, just as dawn appeared.

Graham stayed on the beach while the other two went for help. It was a desolate place. The nearest farmhouse was more than five hours away.

In the meantime Graham went back to FORTUNA and collected a few personal possessions. But it became too dangerous to do so again. Her stern lifted, she mov-ed four or five yards forward and came close to trapping him underneath.

With a knife he opened a can for something to eat. Five or six hours before the incident they'd had a couple of pieces of toast each, and a can of cold beans be-tween them.

While the men were safe, the boat was not. With six or seven hours of rising tide to go, help so far away, and the impossibility of getting salvage machinery to that remote place, Graham could do nothing but sit and watch. Fortuna, that big, sturdy, and seaworthy boat swallowed more sand, while the surf pounded her hull to matchwood.

The final heartache was to come later: not on that lonely beach but in the insurance company's office. Fine print in the policy meant Fortuna wasn't covered for the west coast, though where it happened is within Kaipara Harbour limits.

Apart from the few personal possessions he went back for, Graham Copp lost everything except the most important thing, his life. The rest was in his boat.”

Graham Copp sat on a remote west coast beach yesterday watching his 12m yacht break up in heavy surf.

The sloop, FORTUNA, on a voyage from Auckland to Nelson, ploughed into the sandy beach on a treacherous stretch of coast between Glinks Gully and Pouto Pt, about 56 kilometres south of Dargaville at 4 am.

Although the three men on board are safe, the FORTUNA began to splinter and break up almost immediately.

Her skipper-owner, Mr Copp, a carpenter, formerly Of Remuera, stayed helplessly on the beach while his two companions. Mr Doug Stewart, aged 27, a boilermaker of Otahuhu. and Laurie Walker, 22, a radio-electrician, of Thames, walked for several hours to a farmhouse to raise the alarm.

On board the yacht were all of Mr Copp's possessions. He had intended living on his boat at Nelson.

Mr Stewart, who had been on the helm when the boat beached, said it had been difficult to get a compass bearing in the rough seas. When we struck, we had been sailing on a storm jib," he said. "The waves crashing over us were 10 feet high. The boat was sturdy, and I thought. 'She can take it.' Before we hit the sand, we tipped over twice. When we finally grounded, the water was waist-deep. It was just getting light then," Mr Stewart said.

Mr Walker said they had left Houhora on Friday afternoon in mild weather with north to north-east winds predicted.

When they were between North Cape and Cape Reinga, they heard gale warnings but, since there was nowhere to anchor, decided to continue sailing the single-masted wooden boat.

The bad weather continued as they moved down the west coast.

Mr Walker said he had been in the doghouse when Mr Stewart gave the alarm about 4 am. "The skipper was asleep and we woke him," Mr Walker said.

“As I was moving gear to give the boat better balance, a wave turned us around and the boat went hard on its side. I went flying and hit my head on the galley head. The motor was swamped from the water that came in the hatch. The radio got all wet and wouldn't work. We let off some flares. The battery was saturated and, of course, the motor wouldn't start."

Mr Walker said they had been warned of the proximity to the shore only by a change in the colour of the water, which had become sandy.

"We could not hear any breakers. On the shore there were just sand dunes for miles. The land was beyond them. The skipper was all right. He kept a cool head, but we were all relieved when we realised we were safe."

Mr Walker said it took about 90 minutes from when they first hit the sand until they were washed up through the surf. "It was a nervous time. We left the boat and walked up the beach and made for the land, walking through forest and swamp until we came to a gravel road. We finally reached the farmhouse on Ari Ari Rd just after midday."

Mr Stewart said the boat had been built in 1946. Previous owners had sailed it twice around the world. It had also taken part In the Sydney to Hobart race on two occasions.

Mr Copp had spent two years restoring the yacht. Last night, his clubmates from the Panmure Yacht Club were on their way to the beach.

THE ENDING

Sadly, FORTUNA REDUX (as she was once known on the 1956 Register of Ships), which means “One who brings another safely home” ran out of good fortune.

CONTRIBUTORS

Chris Iacono and Julie Hodder (co-researchers and writers)

Mark Fesq
Graeme Broxam (Tasmania)
Warren Cholomonderly-Smith (NZL)
Nicole Mays (Tasmania)
Mike Morrish (NZL)
Mike Strong (Tasmania)
Ray Weldon (Rags) (USA)
Bradshaw Kellett
David Matzenik
David West (Archivist of RPAYC)
Graham Cox
Graham T Tapin (Tasmania)
Roger Streater (Tasmania)
CYCA Sydney to Hobart Archives
Ron Holland (Canada)
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Archives
Bruce Stannard

WEBSITES LINKS

The Life and Adventures of the Yacht FORTUNA

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The Life and Adventures of the Yacht FORTUNA

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