Catamaran sinks off Taranaki coast after explosion

An Auckland man and his dog on a voyage around New Zealand lost their catamaran off the Taranaki coast yesterday when a gas explosion caused a fire.

They watched from a liferaft as the vessel burned and sank. It was about 4km off Okato, 26km southwest of New Plymouth.

The black plume of smoke was seen on land about 4.30pm and prompted a number of 111 calls.

Four Wanganui men on a fishing holiday hauled the man and his dog to safety.

"The boat had sunk when we got there. The fellow was in a bit of shock and was cold, but the dog was full of play. The dog is his best mate," said Andrew Pearce. "We weren't the heroes. He got himself into the liferaft."

The rescued man, an experienced sailor in his 60s, did not want to talk, or be named, when he reached dry land.

The fishermen took the man and the dog to New Plymouth's Lee Breakwater where police and ambulance officers were waiting.

He was taken to Taranaki Base Hospital but the Wanganui men looked after his dog for the night.

Constable Peter Lawn said the man was expected to be kept in hospital for observation but was believed to be uninjured.

"We are yet to fully determine what happened."

- NZPA