An Australian Finn National Championship competitor, Matt Visser, says he’s alive thanks to the quick-thinking response of a media team filming the event.

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron staff Mike Middleton and Mark Dingley, were filming at the race’s top mark when the incident happened. Visser gybed, and ended up face down in the water.

According to Live Sail Die, footage shows that Visser received a “massive smack to the head with the boom” after an uneasy approach to the mark with gusty conditions. As soon as he capsizes, and the film crew realise the trouble he was in, the footage stops as the pair went to the rescue.

The team found Visser unconscious.

“He was in the water face down and totally unresponsive,” Middleton told the Nine News.

“I dove in and grabbed Matt (Visser) and brought him back to the media boat,” Dingley says.

They pulled Visser aboard the media boat and immediately performed CPR.

“His eyes were glazed, he had no pulse, and I’m saying, we’ve got to get the water out of him,” says Middleton. The rescuers say they performed CPR until Visser started to breathe and coughed.

Dingley says it was a “phenomenal” feeling bringing Visser back to life, and described the experience as “better than winning $100 million on the lotto.”

Visser was taken to intensive care and has subsequently thanked the pair for saving his life.

Footage of the incident is online — (start a minute from the end).

Social media commentary has questioned whether helmets should be mandatory. One commentator points out that in some extreme performance level classes, helmets are already used and they’re unaware of any class that will prevent any competitor from wearing head protection

About this class, they say: “While there is a chance of injury it is an issue of managing that risk at an appropriate level in a given situation. The reason we do not use PFD type 1 floatation devices when sailing off the beach classes is simple – the risk of getting caught in rigging is far greater than any advantage gained should a loss of consciousness occur needing face-up floatation, basically you create more issues than you solve.”

The commentator continues: “Helmets when caught in rigging can also cause serious injury to the neck and spinal column and create a large management and compliance issue for an extremely low potential risk factor. The boom has been a threat to the unwary throughout history. I would much rather get a tap from a modern alloy or carbon boom than any of the timber ones I have come across over the years.

All images courtesy of Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron race footage.

Earlier in January 2023, an Australian couple survived three days at sea after their paddleboard was caught in a strong current. The pair were found 55km from North West Island, Queensland, where they had been enjoying a wilderness experience. A father and son, on a recreational fishing trip heard the couple’s screams during a driving rainstorm on Monday night last week (9 January 2022); the fishermen launched their tender to assist them.

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