INXS guitarist Tim Farriss would have been shown how to use anchor that severed his finger, court hears

The man who performed the handover of a boat at the centre of a lawsuit launched by INXS guitarist Tim Farriss has claimed in court he would have shown how to operate the anchor mechanism that severed the rockstar’s finger.

Mr Farriss, 64, is suing the owners of the vessel he hired on Australia Day, 2015, claiming the horror injury effectively ended his long career as a musician.

The muso has claimed his hand was dragged into the machinery, which he says malfunctioned, as he tried to set anchor at Akuna Bay in Sydney’s north.

He is suing for negligence, alleging the boat was not properly maintained and he was not adequately instructed, and has claimed damages for his pain and suffering.

On Wednesday the NSW Supreme Court heard from Niels Storaker, a director of boat business Charter Boat Charters and Shipping, based at Newport.

The court heard Mr Farriss picked up the Omega Clipper 34 from Mr Storaker, who was left in no doubt about the musician’s experience on the water.

Mr Storaker told Justice Robert Cavanagh that Mr Farriss had relayed how he was adept at navigating through coral and driving at night.

But he said no one took a boat out without a thorough induction, regardless of their prowess.

Mr Storaker said he would have demonstrated how to use the anchor mechanism, even if he now had no true memory of doing so.

“There was no doubt as to my mind as to his experience, but yes, I did go up on the foredeck,” he said.

“I would not have gone up on the foredeck unless I would have demonstrated it (how to use the anchor).”

The court was played a video showing the owner of the charter company, John Axford, releasing and retrieving the anchor in March 2015.

In the footage, recorded by a nautical expert hired by Mr Farriss’s solicitors, the anchor’s chain could be seen to bunch up.

Mr Axford said in the video the chain appeared “a bit rusty” but in court, under cross examination from the rocker’s barrister, Adrian Williams, he denied it had been an ongoing issue.

He said he could only remember one such occasion when the machine malfunctioned, but that was many years ago and well before it was last serviced in 2013.

Later, Mr Storaker said showing a customer how to unkink the anchor chain was important, but he had no recollection of having such a conversation with Mr Farriss.

“It wasn’t a normal thing I would say to the hirers because it is an unlikely occurrence,” he said.

The hearing continues.