Peter, I agree we do not want to limit those who want to go adventuring, but I also see no reason why anyone else should be called upon to fund the rescue of these adventurers, when they stuff up.

Like Keith, I learnt to sail with a book in one hand, a rope in the other, & a tiller between my legs. It does work, at last count I have 53,000 nautical miles under my keel, much of it single handed. As an experienced highly skilled navigator I was then invited to do quite a few Hobarts. Racing sailing has little to do with long distance sailing.

My radio had a range of about 25 miles, I did not carry an epirb once out of Sydney, & did not expect any one to come looking for me. It would have been a bit hard, as I never told anyone my destination.

Round world sailors & racers are a little different. They are in contact, often for commercial reasons, & expect rescue, when things go wrong. I can see no reason that part of the entry requirements for these races should not be payment for an insurance policy to fund any rescue involved.

For record breakers, they could probably get sponsorship from an insurance company, to cover their rescue, & as semi commercial enterprises should be prepared to pay for insurance, if necessary.

So, I agree, let’s keep adventuring, but let’s not expect the public to pick up the pieces.

I heard an interview on ABC radio yesterday with this silly woman who is a car rally co-driver and organiser. She said that the objective was to get from point A to point B in the shortest possible time and quicker than any of your competitors.

In order to do that, she said that competitors went on a reconnaissance trip first and made copious notes about every corner, curve, crest, etc, so that when in competition they could fly through the course as quickly as possible with some knowledge of the road around each curve and over each crest and so on.

This just seemed to me to be so utterly absurd. There she was, screaming along as fast as she and her driver could possibly go, with absolutely no margin for error, and just about no chance of getting through the whole course without some error, meaning that the chances of serious mishap were extremely high. And for what? Some ludicrously misplaced sense of adventure!

I turned the radio off in disgust mid-interview.

RIP Peter Brock.