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Tasmanian Seafarers' Memorial
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Yacht Charleston (1979)
The
plaque reads ...
Yacht "Charleston"
December 1979
Lost at sea en route Hobart to Sydney
Charles E. Davies
Lawrence Corkhill Jeff
Corkhill
David Symes Ian
McIndoe
Oh Lord be good to us
Thy sea is so great
And our ship is small
The 11 metre yacht Charleston on passage from Hobart to Sydney disappeared without trace. Extensive aerial and coastal searches along the likely route the yacht was taking, as well as across the Tasman Sea, failed to find any evidence of the yacht or its crew. The yacht designed by New Zealander Ron Holland represented the latest in yacht design and light displacement construction had only been recently launched and having won the Maria Island Race was expected to perform well in Sydney prior to competing in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
The last message from Charleston was a routine radio call on Monday 10th December 1979 stating their position as about 30 miles south east of Babel Island, off the east coast of Flinders Island. There were no indications of anything abnormal with their passage at that point.
Those lost were the following:
Charles E Davies, owner and skipper, Lawrence Corkhill, Jeff Corkhill, David Symes and Ian McIndoe.
It has been revealed that the loss of the Charleston was never referred to the Tasmanian coroner until 2022. In July 2026 the Tasmanian coroner declared the five men to be deceased and ruled that they most likely drowned in a tragic accident during the storm conditions prevailing at the time. The coroner's report brings the legal close to the decades-long mystery, although how and why the Charleston disappeared remains unknown.