Missing yacht Tafadwza
An aerial search was due to begin at first light again
today for a yacht now four days overdue on a voyage from
Tauranga to Gisborne.
An Air Force Orion and another plane yesterday found no trace
of the 11-metre yacht Tafadzwa or the sole occupant, Paul Van
Rensburg, 40.
He left Tauranga on Friday and was due to begin a new job in
Gisborne on Monday but authorities were alerted when he
failed to turn up to work.
The steel-hulled sloop made an excellent target to find with
the search aircraft's radar, said Keith Allen from the Rescue
Co ordination Centre in Wellington.
Mr Van Rensburg has failed to answer VHF radio calls but may
be out of range or have his radio turned off.
He may also have under-estimated how long the voyage from
Tauranga to Gisborne would take and may have been hit by the
southerly storm which raced up the east coast during the
weekend.
By late yesterday when the search was called off for the day
the aircraft had covered about 44,000 square miles.
The search area ranged from the Mercury Islands down to
Gisborne, and out to around 200 nautical miles offshore, Mr
Allen said.
The search centre had worked on a plan overnight on the best
approach for the Orion which would probably see the search
area extended to the north today.
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