The amazing rescue of Tassie sailor Luke Watkins by his teammates on Porco Rosso has formed the centrepiece of Sydney-Hobart safety changes

A young Hobart father’s man-overboard and miracle rescue in the 2024 Sydney-Hobart yacht race has changed ITS safety rules forever. Luke Watkins speaks out on recommended changes.

A Tasmanian sailor who survived a nightmare man-overboard rescue in the 2024 Sydney to Hobart yacht race has had a major impact on new safety improvements after a review into the fatal edition of the blue water classic.

Two crew died in the 2024 race when they received fatal head injuries in separate incidents on different yachts.

Luke Watkins, of Hobart, avoided becoming a third fatality after being swept overboard and subsequently located and rescued by his own yacht, Porco Rosso, owned and skippered by Hobart eye doctor Paul McCartney.

Watkins, Porco Rosso’s boat captain and safety officer, was wearing a life jacket and an Automatic Identification System (AIS), a personal locator that allowed his crewmates to track his position in the water, backtrack and pull him aboard.

The review conducted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia heard from Watkins how critical the AIS was to his rescue.

They have been made mandatory in all future Sydney-Hobarts, as well as all category one (an offshore race of long distance with land not in sight) and category two (along coastlines or in large, unprotected bodies of water with land often in sight) yacht races.

Watkins said it was “one hundred percent” the right move.

“When we spoke to the review my incident showed the value of them, so they were happy to instigate that change,” he said.

“For me, the decision to let myself go from the boat having that AIS beacon meant my chances of getting picked up were higher, and the time I spent in the water would be a lot less than relying on the PLB [Personal Locator Beacon].

Sailor Luke Watkins. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“The PLB signal is sent through to the rescue centre in Canberra, and they relay the signal to a search craft, so there is a massive time delay.

“The fact that I drifted 1.2nm in the time I was overboard, last known reports would have been old information and I would have been further down the track than expect when a rescue boat got to that area.

“The AIS constantly displaying my position to the boat [Porco Rosso] means that they can sail straight back to me.”

Watkins is proud his rescue had such a positive impact on the outcome of the review, would keep future crews safer and more than likely save lives.

“It is a good feeling,” he said.

“The best thing is that good change has come from a positive outcome.

“Unfortunately in our sport, quite often change comes from a negative outcome, so it is nice that we are going to get a change to help save lives but it is coming from a positive story.”

The 2024 race was marked by tragedy, as two sailors died of head-related injuries in separate incidents on the first night of the race.

The lost crewmen were Roy Quaden (55), of Western Australia, was racing aboard Flying Fish Arctos, a McIntyre 55, and Nick Smith (65), from South Australia, was racing aboard a Beneteau First 44.7.3.

Watkins agreed with the decision not to make helmets mandatory for all crew members in the race.

But he believes sailors will consider wearing them as a personal choice for their own safety.

Originally published as The amazing rescue of Tassie sailor Luke Watkins by his teammates on Porco Rosso has formed the centrepiece of Sydney-Hobart safety changes