Air Force joins search for yachtie

Missing yacht Tafadwza. Photo / Supplied

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.

- NZPA