Sailor who narrowly avoided drowning after he was swept overboard in Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race during a wild night that claimed two lives breaks his silence on terrifying ordeal

A competitor who survived being thrown overboard during the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has told how he survived the harrowing experience.

Luke Watkins, captain of the 15ft Porco Rosso, was blown overboard as the 2013 handicap winner, formerly known as Victoire, walked along the Green Cape on the NSW coast in high winds about 3.15am on Friday.

Mr Watkins said he was caught off guard when the boat went through a rough wave that completely swamped the deck and briefly capsized in the ocean.

As the boat was turned on its side and Mr Watkins was thrown into the water, he said he frantically tried to free himself from the ship, fearing he was ‘on his last breath’

After managing to loosen the harness and then orient himself underwater, he returned to the surface and saw his boat 200 meters ahead of him, still sailing away.

Mr Watkins said his safety training helped him survive as he kicked into gear, checked his pockets for supplies and activated his personal locator beacons.

He found a flashlight, some food, and a few glow sticks in his pockets, which he cracked to make himself more visible in the darkness that surrounded him.

On the same night, in particularly rough seas for the notoriously tough race, a sailor aboard Flying Fish Arctos and a sailor on Bowline were also killed after the wind caused a boom and a sail to collide with them respectively, causing them to be thrown across the deck.

Mr Watkins made light of the life-threatening situation once he reached dry land, but said he was well aware of how serious his situation was before he was rescued.

“My first thought was ‘this isn’t fun’ and then I kind of just tried to stay calm and really work through my safety training,” he says told the ABC.

“I was just trying to curl up and stay warm [but] after about 10 minutes I felt myself starting to get a little cold so I just got into a survival position and tucked my elbows.

‘It was quite tough being tossed around by the waves and it was quite difficult to keep my head above water most of the time. I swallowed quite a bit of salt water, but I tried to control my thoughts.”

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia vice-commodore David Jacobs said the experience was one of the most terrifying a sailor could imagine.

“That’s one of the most terrifying experiences you can have,” Jacobs said.

‘[And] it was at night, which makes it ten times scarier.

‘Fortunately, systems and procedures have been developed to retrieve the person in that situation.’

The boat’s captain said his survival instincts saved him

The incident triggered the crew member’s emergency position indicating radio beacon, a safety device required to be carried by all sailors in the race.

As a result, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority was automatically notified of the incident and contacted the Sydney racing committee.

AMSA also deployed an emergency aircraft to search for the crew member.

“We thought they washed up about 0.7 miles from the boat,” Jacobs said.

Four-time line honors champion Master Lock Comanche, who had retired earlier in the race, was diverted to assist Porco Rosso in the search and rescue efforts.

After about half an hour in the water, Mr Watkins saw the light piercing the darkness around him and realized that Porco Rosso was sailing back to his position.

Mr Watkins was largely unhurt, but Porco Rosso opted to retire around 4.45am rather than continue into Bass Strait, where strong to gale force winds were blowing.

The deaths earlier in the evening were the first in the yacht race since the tragic 1998 Hobart, which killed six people in fierce storms and prompted massive reforms to the race’s safety procedures.

‘The sailing community is a very close-knit community. There are approximately a thousand sailors on the water in this race, and to lose two in this way is nothing short of devastating,” Jacobs said of the recent deaths.