Man clings to sinking launch

By BRIDGET CARTER

A 65-year-old man clung for his life to a radar tower on the cabin top of a launch yesterday as the vessel sank beneath him off Great Barrier Island.

The man's wife and a friend got in an inflatable dinghy as the 15m launch Manukura took on water, lost engine power and then started to sink south of Port Fitzroy around 10.30am.

Westpac rescue helicopter paramedic Barry Watkin said the rescue was "quite dramatic".

The man was having an asthma attack as he stood on the cabin, clinging to the 2m tower, and waves were "whacking over his lower half".

He was holding a child's lifejacket - the only inflatable thing he could find.

Mr Watkin said the man and his wife were from the Gold Coast and were being taken on "a lovely day out" by an Auckland friend, the launch's skipper.

He was unsure why the 65-year-old had not climbed into the inflatable with the others.

The helicopter responded to the drama almost an hour after the Manukura began to sink but had difficulty tracking it down.

During the search, a radio transmission was heard from a small boat to maritime radio.

The transmission, which was at about 1.30pm, said the pair in the dinghy had been picked up, but the third person was still on the sinking launch.

Once the Westpac helicopter spotted the 65-year-old, Mr Watkin was winched down into the water.

The original plan was to pull the man up to the helicopter, but he was not up to going along with that plan because of his asthma attack.

"He felt if he had gone into the water he would have been so short of breath that if the paramedic had missed him, it would have been only a moment before he died."

Instead, a fishing boat nearby was called and the man was pulled on board.

He was taken to nearby Kaikoura Island where he was reunited with his wife and friend and given first aid.

The helicopter picked up the man and took him to Auckland City Hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia and discharged.

Helicopter manager Greg Brownson said the conditions "weren't too bad".

"It was blowing pretty strong, but the swells were only a couple of metres."

Great Barrier Island police Senior Constable Roger Bright said the Manukura had been recovered.