Sailor who died in yacht race tragedy was ‘popular, sensible and experienced’

A BRITISH sailor who died after being swept overboard was a popular and sensible man, said Clipper Round The World Yacht Race co-founder Sir Robin KnoxJohnston.

Simon Speirs, from Bristol, was taking part in the 11th edition of the biennial event as it crossed from South Africa to Australia during leg three of the race.

The 60-year-old retired solicitor was racing on board the Great Britain yacht, and had been on the foredeck of the 70ft vessel to help change a sail, when the incident happened.

Describing Mr Speirs as a “popular chap” who was “very sensible”, he said the sailor who had more than 40 years of dinghy sailing experience was washed off the deck in gale-force winds despite being tethered.

Mr Speirs then became separated from the boat, which was in the Southern Ocean, in what were rough seas with 20 knots of wind and gusts at 40 knots.

“It is absolutely tragic to lose someone like this,” Sir Robin said. “He was clipped on with the safety tether, he had done additional training, he was an experienced sailor and he was one of the safety committee on the boat.”

Pressed on what that might mean for the rest of the race, he said the tether in question needs to be examined by the Clipper team and safety professionals.

Once it has been looked at, Sir Robin said in conjunction with specialists, a judgment and joint decision will then be made on how to proceed. He said a full independent investigation alongside the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau is being undertaken, which is a normal process following such incidents.

“The tether was state-of-theart – it was new for this race, it is top of the range, it has got type approval by everyone,” Sir Robin added. “All we know is that he was tethered on and that something has gone wrong. Whether it is a type failure or a one-off failure – we won’t know that until it has been examined.”

His death is the third in the 21year history of the race.