Mystery yacht may have been boat that sank

Mystery surrounds a boat that disappeared after visiting Whakatane this month.

The yacht has not been reported missing but efforts to eliminate it from a suspected boating tragedy have failed.

On Wednesday several items, including clothing and fuel cans, were found on Pukehina Beach and a submerged hull was seen by a search plane about 4km from shore. An aluminium dinghy was found on a deserted beach at nearby Otamarakau.

The 12m yacht moored at Whakatane last Saturday week after a friend of the yachties who lived in Whakatane asked the harbour master for a berth. It was gone by midday the next day but a trip report was not filed with the coastguard or harbour master.

It was thought to have headed west from Whakatane on the Sunday towing a dinghy similar to the one found at Otamarakau.

The name of the boat, its occupants and the friend who asked for the berth were not recorded.

Tauranga Coastguard operations manager Phil Crisp would not speculate that the Whakatane boat sank at Pukehina. He said most boats in the area had been eliminated from the inquiry.

"At this stage, anyway, we've accounted for everybody from Tauranga in the timeframe."

He said the boat could be from anywhere along the coast.

The search, which he said had cost more than $10,000, had been called off, although it could be reactivated.

Search co-ordinator Dave Thompson, of the Greerton police, said the chances of finding anyone alive were low.

"We've made a very, very extensive search of the area ... and there's just nothing there."

- NZPA


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