No decision yet on charges in yachting death

By PAUL YANDALL

The Maritime Safety Authority is still questioning the people involved in the sinking of a yacht in the Hauraki Gulf Friday morning.

Jan Elliott, aged 64, of Whangaparaoa, was steering the 12m sloop, the Toolka-T, when it collided with a 1500-tonne barge being towed by a tugboat.

The yacht was returning from a four-month trip to Fiji and Vanuatu and had almost reached its home berth at Gulf Harbour, Whangaparaoa, when the accident happened near Cape Rodney, north of Warkworth, about 5 am.

Mrs Elliott said she was trying to steer the yacht past the tug when the collision occurred.

She said the tug was showing lights but she did not know if they were towing lights.

The yacht, carrying four people, hit the partially submerged 500m towline connecting the tug and barge.

It was then run over by the barge and sank in 50m of water.

Mrs Elliott's partner and owner of the sloop, 76-year-old Don Morton, was asleep below deck when the accident happened and did not surface when the yacht sank. His body was recovered that day.

Mrs Elliott and crew members Kees Dykstra and Karen McDonald, who were both asleep below deck at the time, were unharmed.

Maritime Safety Authority spokesman Lindsay Sturt said the authority could not yet comment on the specifics of the accident as it had yet to interview the people involved.

But he said all aspects of the accident would be canvassed and a prosecution could be laid if any wrongdoing was found.

"But it would depend on the circumstances. You don't necessarily prosecute someone if it was a genuine mistake."

He said all tugs were required to show tow lights if working in the dark and it was equally important for others on the sea to be not only aware of what they looked like but also on the lookout for them.

"If a tug is going by day it's got day shapes displayed aboard and if it's going by night it's got special lights and you need to know those lights," he said.

"It's pretty standard stuff."