3:33 PM Thu 29 Apr 2010 GMT
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'Happy days - Peter Eagle and wife Kerrie with daughters Sarah, left, and Lauryn.'
St George and Sutherland Shire Leader
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Australia's ski racing fraternity was shocked and saddened when the news came through on March 8, 2008 that well-known boating identity and regular competitor Peter Eagle had lost his life on Sydney Harbour.
Eagle died when the boat he was driving capsized when coming off passing wash, trapping him beneath and beyond rescue. Another top competitor, Geoff Burgess, was navigating in the boat and despite sustaining several injuries has made a full recovery.
NSW Deputy State Coroner, Hugh Dillon, conducting the hearing into the incident, said 'there's no human agent who can be blamed for this.'
He found that Eagle, 51, drowned after the boat 'flipped' at high speed when it hit a series of large waves caused by a passing tug boat towing a barge.
'This was clearly death by misadventure,' Mr Dillon informed the Glebe Coroner's Court. He said there was no evidence of recklessness or negligence by either the deceased, the boat's owner or the mechanic responsible for the engine.
Eagle, husband of Kerrie and father of Lauryn and Sarah, both top rated ski racers, was a mate of mine and the more I think of the accident the harder it is to figure out what went wrong.
You see, what Peter did, come 'sky high' off a wave generated by a passing vessel, is something I, and I'm certain many others, have done countless times. When testing ski boats or race boats on Sydney Harbour, I would deliberately seek out passing wash to get the boat I was driving a little airborne.
I mean, it's a lot of fun. And Peter Eagle was a man very, very experienced around boats. So, how did it happen?
I just don't know. Geoff Burgess, with every bit as much experience in quick boats as Peter, believes there was 'a fourth wave.'
He recalls the boat hitting three waves generated by the passing tug boat and barge, the ski boat's bow 'flying' five to six metres high. 'I think there was a fourth wave, we've gone down that wave and the bow has stuffed into it,' he explained.
Mr Dillon admitted to some concern related to the risks involved with very fast boats. However, his only recommendation to emanate from the inquiry was that NSW Maritime and the Australian Power Boat Association continue to examine additional safety precautions.
'We would still be living in caves if people had not taken risks at some point to advance human knowledge in one way or another,' Mr Dillon added.
Peter Eagle's daughters, Lauryn and Sarah, still love their chosen sport; Lauryn is an internationally-ranked ski racer, a member of the Australian team and a former F2 World champion. She is also a former Miss Teen International. Sarah has recently made a return to ski racing.
Their mother Kerrie (I towed her in a Bridge to Bridge some years back) also raced before retiring to concentrate on motherhood.
by Bob Wonders
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Davis, TAS
