How Peter Harburg endured 12 hours at sea with a broken femur

THE pain Peter Harburg had to endure during last year’s Sydney to Hobart would be enough for even the toughest sailor to look for a new sport.

The owner of Sydney to Hobart Maxi yacht Black Jack, Peter Harburg, broke his leg so badly in the Sydney to Hobart last year his foot was facing the wrong way. Rozelle. Photo: Bob Barker.

IT’S enough to make even the hardiest sailor start looking for a new sport — being strapped to a bunk in agony with a broken femur for 12 hours during a Sydney to Hobart.

But not Black Jack owner Peter Harburg.

He is so proud of the way his crew handled the harrowing medical emergency during the brutal race last year he has returned for another crack.

“The doctor in Sydney patched me up and then three months later I was walking with a walking stick and six months later walking with no issue,” Harburg said.

Harburg’s foot was facing the wrong way after the injury.

“In August I did the Brisbane to Gladstone race.

“I look at it as I hurt myself, I got over it, move on.”

Skipper Mark Bradford and his crew earned accolades for the way they handled the emergency at sea, with carbon fibre sail batons used as splints during the triage in the middle of Bass Strait.

“They took a bunk off the wall and laid it down,’’ Harburg said after the accident.

“They then tied me in, trussed me up like a sail, with actual sail ties.’’

“They just tried to keep me as still as possible.’’

Harburg said he could not have hoped for a more professional crew to race with.

“They had some advice from race headquarters in how to put the braces on the leg,” he said.

“But that’s not a normal thing to be able to do. But they did it and they did it right.”

The Black Jack crew are again one of the favourites for overall honours.

Bradford and his crew also had to navigate their way to medical help via a route which would cause the least amount of pain to their skipper down below.

Harburg, whose boat is named after Sir Jack Brabham, spent five days in hospital with a 40cm rod and three pins inserted into his leg to piece together his broken femur.

As they were last year, the Black Jack crew are one of the favourites for the overall honours in the Sydney to Hobart.

A fleet of 90 will be on the start line of the 72nd edition of the race on Boxing Day.