KEY POINTS:
A trimaran holed after colliding with a humpback whale remained drifting out at sea last night.
Maritime New Zealand has issued a coastal navigation warning over the Loose Goose, which it is understood is still afloat in the Tasman Sea.
Taranaki yachtsman Lindsay Wright was yesterday back home in New Plymouth after being winched to safety from the trimaran on Tuesday.
"When I left I tried to do everything I could to minimise damage if she washes ashore," he told the Herald.
Mr Wright had considered taking a friend's fishing boat to salvage the yacht but said the light trimaran could prove difficult to tow. He was also not sure if she would remain intact.
"When I left the decks were pulsing, I think from the wave action inside, so they may break up."
The Loose Goose was insured but Mr Wright had not contacted his insurance company yesterday to see if they would pay to find the yacht.
Under maritime law, the trimaran remains Mr Wright's property, or that of his insurance company, until he gives it up. However, a Maritime NZ spokesman said the Loose Goose was expected to sink. The authority will not investigate the accident - one of a number which kept Coastguard busy plucking people from the water over Christmas and New Year.
Luxury launch Crystal Clear became the first casualty when she struck a reef and partially sank in the Hauraki Gulf on Boxing Day.
The 12.2m launch, worth at least $350,000, was pumped out and towed to Pine Harbour Marina, east of Auckland.
Owner Graham Calvert, a former dairy industry executive, yesterday said the extent of damage to his boat was still being assessed. The motors were being dismantled and inspected, and it was "up in the air" whether the boat would ever return to sea.
A spokesman for Maritime NZ yesterday said the agency had received incident reports on the Crystal Clear accident and others involving:
* The sinking of 4.8m fishing boat Mopsy, from which boaties Barrie Oaks and Alan Rayner were rescued from the Tamaki Strait on January 3. Mr Oaks rang for help on a mobile phone he managed to grab as the boat filled with water and capsized.
* The sinking of 23m yacht Mako after it collided with an unidentified object and started taking on water in the Channel Islands, between Coromandel and Great Barrier Island, on January 4. Three people on board climbed into a dinghy and called for help on a cellphone.
The Mopsy was towed to Calypso Bay, where it was found to have a hole in it. The owner could not be contacted yesterday.
Mako is sitting in 50-60 metres of water.
Maritime NZ said a master or skipper of a vessel involved in an accident must report it under the Maritime Transport Act "as soon as practicable after it occurs".
The agency did not investigate every incident but would do so if maritime regulations had been breached, or there was some safety benefit to an inquiry, the spokesman said.
"None of [these accidents] involved another vessel," he said.
"They are all explainable mishaps."
The incident reports may be published in brief next month but Maritime NZ would not release details yesterday.
