Coronial
VICcommunity

DACK Lindsay

Deceased

Lindsay Dack

Demographics

43y, male

Date of death

2000-12-26

Finding date

2003-05-21

Cause of death

Drowning

AI-generated summary

Lindsay Dack, aged 43, drowned on 26 December 2000 while crewing the yacht Spirit of Downunder in the Big Bay Race 2000 in Port Phillip Bay. He was thrown overboard during a sudden squall while working on the foredeck, wearing wet weather gear but no PFD or harness. The yacht suffered two severe knockdowns, the second of which swept Dack overboard. Despite rescue attempts by skipper Laurie Ford and crew, using a life sling, Dack became exhausted and drowned before professional rescue arrived. The coroner identified multiple preventable failures: lack of mandatory PFD/harness wearing for deck crew; inadequate man overboard training; failure to deploy flotation devices; delayed Mayday call; helm damage reducing boat control; and propeller fouling by spinnaker line. The coroner found the death preventable and made extensive recommendations for mandatory safety equipment, crew training, and improved race management systems.

AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.

Error types

systemproceduralcommunicationdelay

Contributing factors

  • Not wearing PFD or harness when thrown overboard
  • Sudden squall or microburst causing severe knockdowns
  • Damage to helm/steering pedestal reducing boat control
  • Propeller fouling with spinnaker line after knockdowns
  • Loss of visual contact with man overboard
  • Delayed Mayday call to rescue services
  • Failed man overboard recovery procedures
  • Inadequate training and practice in emergency procedures
  • Failure to deploy additional flotation devices during rescue

Coroner's recommendations

  1. Mandatory wearing of PFDs by yacht crew working on deck should be required for all yachting categories
  2. Review and upgrade Australian Standard AS 1512 for PFD design to improve practicality, comfort and wearability
  3. Mandatory use of harnesses with PFDs complying with AS 2227
  4. Encouragement of Personal Locator Beacons for crew in bay and ocean racing
  5. Mandatory standardised Safety & Sea Survival training courses for all competing crew
  6. Man overboard procedures with theory, scenario drills and general drills as part of mandatory training
  7. Improved race management systems including dedicated trained Race Directors, constant safety monitoring, and weather information relay
  8. Australian Yachting Federation engage specialist consultant for safety audit and management procedures review
  9. Mandatory monitoring of radios by competing yachts at all times during races
  10. Redesign of Racing Rules of Sailing for quick and easy reference of safety information
Full text
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Source and disclaimer

This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.

Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.

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