One of Australia's leading powerboat racing drivers, Robert Weir, 43, of Melbourne, died on Sunday, 29 January 1984, during the annual "Port Phillip 100" organized by the Australian Off Shore Power Boat Club, on a boat course on the eastern shore of the Port Phillip Bay, state of Victoria, Australia.
The accident happened about one kilometre off Sandringham, Victoria. Robert Weir was leading the 160-kilometer race when his Weirwolf #073 boat came off the back of a wave and was dumped heavily into the water tunnel underneath. The boat broke into two sections and disintegrated as it crashed into the sea.
The navigator Michael Meeng, 34, and another crewman whose name was not released, were thrown clear. Rescue boats arrived quickly and pulled the two men from the water. The wrecked hull was submerged about five metres, and divers found Robert Weir's body pinned under it. An ambulance officer tried to revive him without success.
After the tragedy, the race was abandoned, becoming the world's first UIM international offshore race to be stopped. Robert Weir was reported to be the first fatality in the 15 years the race had been held.
An experienced powerboat racer, Robert Weir represented Australia at international championships in Melbourne and Sydney in 1980. His memory was perpetuated by the "Robert Weir Powerboat Series", the Australian Off Shore Power Boat Club's most prestigious award for outboard powered boats. Ten years later the classic "Port Phillip 100", Australia's oldest powerboat offshore race, was titled as "Robert Weir 100" in his memory. It was just Robert Weir's navigator Michael Meeng who navigated the first boat to win the trophy, Peter Ham's "Super Steele II", in 1995.
R.I.P
