An air force Orion has joined the search for a yacht missing
on a voyage from Tauranga to Gisborne.
The 11-metre yacht Tafadzwa left Tauranga on Friday and when
skipper South African Paul Van Rensburg failed to arrive at
work in Gisborne on Monday the alarm was raised.
Rescue authorities say the yacht may have been hit by the
strong southerly storm which swept up the east coast on the
weekend.
Mr Van Rensburg, 40, has failed to answer VHF radio calls but
the National Rescue Co-ordination Centre said that may be
because he was out of range or he may not have his radio
turned on.
An aerial search yesterday went up to 50km out to sea but
failed to find any trace of the yacht.
Mission co-ordinator Keith Allen said there were serious
concerns for the missing vessel but no wreckage or other sign
of difficulty was found yesterday and that was potentially a
good sign.
"The yacht has a float-free emergency beacon on board, which
should have been activated if it was immersed in water." The
search area was about 8000 nautical square miles and there
was a possibility the yachtsman may not have got past the
southern end of the Bay of Plenty after leaving Tauranga.
The search began closer to Gisborne but moved to the
northwest amid speculation the yacht may have been pushed out
to sea by the bad weather.
Overnight, rescue authorities calculated where they thought
he could be, using facts they knew of the yacht, sea
conditions and the weather.
Mr Van Rensburg was an experienced yachtie but may have
under-estimated how much time it would take to get to
Gisborne, rescue authorities said.
He sailed to New Zealand in 2006, and now worked for an
engineering firm around the country.
His yacht was usually moored at Tauranga, but he was
understood to be moving it to Gisborne, where his girlfriend
was based.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.