Coromandel boat sinking victim named

Photo / APN

A man who drowned when a boat was swamped off the northern Coromandel coast last night has been named by police.

He was 68-year-old Raymond Saunders of Kihikihi.

Mr Saunders was on the six-metre boat with another man in Otautu Bay, Colville, when it encountered heavy seas and was swamped.

The other occupant of the boat managed to make it to rocks on the coast and was rescued by a passing woman.

The surviving man was taken to Thames Hospital for treatment.

Several vessels put to sea following news of the boat's sinking about 7.20pm and Mr Saunders was found in the water unconscious.

Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

A coast guard spokeswoman told media two boats had collided and four people ended up in the water, but police have today said that information is incorrect.

Police praised the woman who rescued the survivor.

"He was one of two men aboard the ... runabout when it sank," acting Eastern Waikato area commander Inspector Marcus Lynam said last night.

"Taking him ashore in an area of poor communications, she was able to raise the alarm that resulted in a fantastic response from local boaties in the area who put their vessels out to sea to search for the other man."

Mr Lynam said the incident was made more tragic by the likelihood that the man's death could have been avoided had the pair been wearing life jackets.

Boaties should wear a life jacket, carry two separate waterproof means of communication, check the marine weather forecast before they went to sea, and avoid alcohol, he said.

- NZPA