The intensity of both storms were similar also, in the case of the Australian storm reports from satellite images and competitors revealing average winds of 120 kph, with the strongest being 171 kph. The average wave height was recorded as 12 metres, but the biggest was 20m, however rogue waves were considerably bigger being recorded to be over 25 meters high. The ‘perfect storm’s’ intensity was only slightly different with rogue waves being more powerful, up to 30 meters high yet wind speeds less than the Bass Straits, around 141 kph. Both of the storms were considered by many people to be hurricanes, however neither of the storms ever got named for different reasons. The United States bureau of meteorology didn’t want to cause unnecessary confusion or alarm by naming another hurricane and the Australian bureau of meteorology calls hurricanes cyclones, yet for some reason never got a name.
The Bass Strait storm and ‘the perfect storm’ were however dissimilar in the way that they formed on opposite hemispheres, the perfect storm bring in the northern and the Bass Strait being in the southern. Being in different hemispheres the storms therefore spun in different directions, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
During the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, all competitors had to have a certain amount of safety equipment. However some boats decided to take extra safety gear such as personal EPIRBS and GPS for each competitor. Some faults in safety equipment resulted in death, the first occurred when the stitching on a safety harness deteriorated and a crewmember was washed over board, the brand of safety harness was then recalled after a coroner made recommendations. Flares were also used by several boats during the race and after they had retired to get the attention of helicopters and passing boats however many competitors reported that some of their flares didn’t work. Some boats reported that after they had retired from the race they had up to fourteen 360 degree roll overs and dismasting and when they then tried to send a distress communication the only option they had was EPIRB due to the radios being flooded by water and no longer working. Helicopters and surface vessels during the storm rescued 55 crewmembers and the Australian Search and Rescue Coordination Centre coordinated all of these rescues.
The safety equipment on board the Andrea Gail which sank with all six crew members was controversial because an EPIRB was found to have not worked or had been switched off, when it should of been in armed position. The U.S. National Guard coordinated the search and rescue attempts during the storm. The rescue helicopters had highly trained parajumpers to extract endangered crewmembers and this crew rescued the crew on board the ‘Satori’. After returning the three survivors to land the rescue helicopter ‘ditched’ after not being able to refuel due to extreme weather. One out of the five National Guard aircrew died during the helicopter ‘ditching’ and the remaining were rescued by the Tamaroa.
The hazards that the skippers in both of the storms had to face were 14 to18 meter average wave heights with 20 to 30 meter rogue waves. Also other hazards the skippers had to face were 150 to 180 kph winds, heavy rain, crossing seas and human factors such as sea sickness and fatigue. The skipper of the Andrea Gail would have had to oversteer to stay on coarse during the storm because of the wind and high wave action. If he decided to turn around a high-risk manoeuvre called rounding up would have to be performed. Rounding up is turning around in a trough of a wave, if done wrong or too slow the boat broaches and capsizes. The majority of the skippers in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race blamed the bureau of meteorology for not providing accurate forecasts as the reason for why they didn’t turn around before they hit the storm. The skippers on all of the boats in both the storms had many years experience on boats and it wasn’t due to their skill level that they came into trouble it was due to other human elements such as safety regulations that could have saved the crews.
