Lifelong sailor taken by sea he loved

By LOUISA CLEAVE

At the age of five or six, Kerrian Blaymires fell in love with yachts and the sea and pestered his parents for a boat.

But money was tight, so he used his imagination, as well as his mother's sheets and clothesline, to set up sail rigs in trees.

The Auckland yachtsman's nearly 50-year love affair with the sea would have continued on but for his tragic death off the coast of Taranaki.

On Monday night, bringing home his new boat Thyme with three friends on board, bad weather claimed his yacht and his life.

Two or three hours from shelter off Cape Egmont, a large wave hit the 12m yacht - the mast snapped and the boat rolled three times before the crew abandoned it.

The four experienced sailors, all of whom were wearing life jackets, threw themselves towards an inflatable life raft.

That was the last time the three survivors, aged 34, 50 and 66, saw Mr Blaymires. The Auckland yachtsmen, among them Jamie Thomas, were blown to shore clinging to the side of the raft.

They caught the attention of a rescue helicopter by firing a flare and were picked up less than an hour after the mayday was sent.

The body of Mr Blaymires, a 54-year-old North Shore businessman, was found later that night on rocks about 100m from where his friends were rescued.

Mr Blaymires owned Lenker Marketing and Distribution, a company that makes food products and trades in boat and yacht accessories.

A self-penned profile on the H28 Yacht Owners Association website describes how at age 10 he took on a paper run to save money for a "P" class boat, which he bought with his father's help for $24.

Mr Blaymires described owning and rebuilding a succession of boats in the following years. In 1982, he and wife Robin rebuilt a keeler and sold it to buy a new house.

Ten years later they moulded their own boat, the Hirondelle, which was finished in December 1995.

"She is a cutter-rigged and we are very happy with her. My long-term goals are to do some blue water racing and cruising (not in Hirondelle) and for Robin and I to continue enjoying sailing the beautiful NZ coast," he wrote.

Association chairman Richard Legge yesterday remembered Mr Blaymires as an experienced sailor who had made a number of delivery voyages both offshore and around New Zealand.

Besides his membership of the H28 association, Mr Blaymires belonged to the Cruising and Navigators Association.

The survivors returned to Auckland yesterday. Sergeant Bruce Irvine said the men were holding up remarkably well, "given the circumstances and the fact they've been through a traumatic experience and lost a good friend".

They had talked of waves blowing out the windows of the yacht's cabin and flooding which cut the engine. Mr Blaymires and his crew left Nelson at noon on Sunday and knew rough weather was ahead.

But with the wind, sea and experience behind them they did not harbour any great concerns.

"These guys came across as being guys who would not take any unnecessary risk," said Mr Irvine. "I think it certainly blew a bit harder than they thought it was going to."