I was caught in horror sea storm that killed 21… 50ft waves swept my dad to his death – it was like a bomb went off
SETTING out from Cowes among a magnificent fleet of 303 sailing boats, 17-year-old Jon Dorey was excited to be competing in the prestigious Fastnet Race for the first time.
But just three days later he was battling for his life as a terrifying storm hit, destroying yachts and claiming 21 lives – including his dad Peter’s.
The unforeseen ‘weather bomb’, which hit the 605-mile race in August 1979, caused waves of over 40ft which crashed over decks, broke masts, capsized boats and shredded life rafts.
As 240 yachts were caught in the eye of the fatal storm, the biggest peacetime rescue operation the UK had ever seen was launched, with lifeboats, ships, RAF helicopters and Nimrod aircraft plucking survivors and bodies from the sea.
Over half a decade on, the tragedy that changed yacht racing forever is revisited in Killer Storm: The Fastnet Disaster, which airs tonight on Channel 5.
In an emotional interview Jon, who was part of an eight man crew from Guernsey on his dad’s yacht Cavale, recalls the terror he felt as the vessel was tossed about in force 10 gales.
“It’s just an absolute helter skelter ride,” he says. “Mad, mad ride. We’ve never seen anything like it. It’s dark outside, but it’s a white out. So spray everywhere. The noise – incredible.
“The boat’s been thrown around all over the place. At one point it’s like explosions hit the boat.”
Tragically, when dad Peter went overboard with another crew member, conditions were so terrible the skipper was unable to turn the boat around to search for him – and had to break the news to the terrified teen.
Glassy-eyed, Jon adds: “I haven’t really told the story to so many people, it’s difficult to tell.
“But it’s a story that’s worth telling and I think there are lessons to be learned as well.”
The annual race, founded in 1925, sets off from Cowes in the Isle of Wight and charts a course around the Fastnet Rock, a lonely crag in the Irish sea, home to a solitary lighthouse, before finishing at Plymouth.
On August 10, 1979, conditions were calm as vessels of all sizes gathered for the most important race in the UK yachting calendar.
“You’ve got hundreds of boats – all starting in the space of an hour. It’s very impressive,” says Jon, adding that the crew of Cavale were “confident in their abilities”.
“My father had sailed it before in 1973 with Ian, his cousin, who was also racing with us in ’79. It was very much a family atmosphere on the boat.”
The forecast, issued by the Southampton Weather Centre, promised “south-westerly winds, force four to five, increasing to force six to seven for a time” – with the slightly stronger winds being welcomed by the competitors as an aid to speed.
Without the modern equipment of today’s meteorologists, weather forecasts in the 1970s were less reliable and could only predict around 24 hours ahead.
With seas “as calm as a cup of tea” for the first two days, and few radios on board, the 2,700 sailors taking part were unaware of a storm brewing in the Midwest of America.
There it had wreaked havoc in New England and killed a woman in New York, who was hit by a falling tree branch.
As the storm met the jet stream it started spinning and headed towards Fastnet, with winds getting stronger as it travelled.
The morning of Monday, August 13 was fair, but by afternoon the sky had turned pink and at 11pm the forecast warned of a force 10 storm, meaning winds of up to 100mph.
The dramatic change is described by meteorologist Clare Nasir as “an absolute beast of a storm”. She adds: “No one had a chance.”
Tragic loss
As the gales picked up throughout the night, a sudden 90 degree wind change created huge waves of up to 50ft, which crashed over the decks from all directions.
Michael Campbell, who was on board the Allamanda, recalls: “I suddenly heard a roar. I looked up to my left and there was this wall of water coming, out of sync with the general weather, coming straight to our beam.”
Jon, below deck on the Cavale, felt the boat turn upside down and was afraid for his life.
“As a 17-year-old, I’m wondering what I’m doing here,” he says. “We’re terrified down below. The boat’s moving everywhere. Everything’s been thrown all over the place.
“The boat goes right the way over and I’m lying against the side of the boat. There’s a gas cooker on the other side of the boat, which is about the size of a microwave oven.
“I looked up and the cooker was flying towards me. It seemed to be in slow motion. I was looking at it and thinking, ‘I wonder what’s gonna happen next’.”
A gas pipe attached to the cooker stopped it shortly before it hit his head – but dad Peter had not been so lucky.
He and crew member Phil Bodman had been swept off the boat as it capsized.
“Ian came down to see me, apologising,” says Jon, tearfully. “He said he’d been trying to turn around for 20 minutes, trying to get my dad out of the water.
“But there was no way… They both had safety harnesses and Phil was able to grab the main sheet, pulling himself aboard, but my father’s harness failed.”
Life raft deaths
Onboard The Trophy, 24-year-old Derek Morland was also in dire straits and, as the waves battered the boat, he woke up to find himself standing on the ceiling before the yacht righted itself.
Seeing his seven crew mates were already off the boat on a life raft, he joined them.
“At that time we felt that was a fairly safe place to go, but it wasn’t,” he recalls.
“We then realised these waves are really big now and the life raft is effectively surfing down the fronts of these things. Within about half an hour of us getting in, it wound up upside down.”
The crew managed to climb back in after four more capsizes but on the fifth, the raft split in two.
Derek managed to grab a line, but tragically, crewmates Peter Everson and John Puxley didn’t make it back.
“We tried to paddle ourselves towards them holding on to the top and the bottom half the life raft, but they were just getting further and further away,” he says.
“John and Peter were both very good friends, but things were so dire. I don’t think that thought was with us for very long because we were just trying to survive ourselves.
“We all thought – I certainly did – I thought I was gonna die.”
Derek also recalls losing navigator Robin Bowyer, who died of hypothermia in the freezing water.
“He was held to the life raft with his lifeline. But he was gone,” he says. “We were all so knackered. We were completely broken by now.”
Fatal flaw
As dawn broke on Tuesday August 14, the extent of the carnage had become clear to organisers and the media, and an unprecedented rescue mission involving 4,000 people was launched.
Royal Navy and RAF helicopter crews were joined by Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft roaring down from Scotland.
British, Irish and Dutch warships converged on the scene and 14 lifeboats launched from RNLI stations in Ireland and Cornwall.
Two of Derek’s critically ill crewmates were rescued by helicopter but, critically short of fuel, it had to leave the remaining men on the raft.
They were rescued shortly afterwards by the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Overijssel.
Incredibly the race carried on, but only 86 of the 303 vessels finished. There were 194 retirements and 24 abandonments, five of which were “lost believed sunk”.
The damaged Cavale made it to safety with the surviving crew on board and, in a tragic postscript, Jon discovered a fatal flaw while examining his father’s harness.
The safety clips used at the time were spring loaded and, if turned in a certain way, would automatically open – meaning Peter hadn’t stood a chance.
The lesson was one of hundreds learned in the aftermath of the disaster, which claimed 15 sailors and six spectators.
“This was the Titanic disaster of sailing,” says sports commentator Fred Dinenage, who reported on the race.
“After the Titanic sank, ship safety was changed forever. After the 79 Fastnet Race, sailing safety would never be the same again.”
Killer Storm: The Fastnet Disaster is on Channel 5 tonight at 9pm.