Orion to resume search for missing father-and-son crew

A RNZAF Orion will resume a search today north of New Zealand for the father-and-son crew of a yacht overdue on a trip to Tonga.

David Jones, 75, and son Martin, 38, left Auckland on the 8.5m steel sloop Bluenose on June 5 and have not been heard from since then.

Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand said the Orion would leave Whenuapai about 8.30am and was expected in the search area about two hours later.

Centre spokesman Steve Corbett said that would allow about six hours of flight time before a decision had to be made on the next course of action.

The search area was a large one of around 40,000 square nautical miles.

Two Orions yesterday failed to find the Bluenose or its crew during a wide search along the yacht's expected path.

Meanwhile, Lily Jones said the yacht her father and brother had set sail in was well stocked with emergency equipment, as her father had a heart condition.

Ms Jones, who described both men as experienced sailors, believed her brother would have taken some action if possible if the pair had got in trouble.

They had sailed to Tonga before and she expected they would have found somewhere to ride out any storms, which is why relatives didn't contact emergency services until yesterday.

"We're a very tight-knit family and that's the hope, they're just riding it out and just waiting somewhere until it all passes and then waiting for a clear run," she said.

"Other than that we really can't think of any other possibility."

Ms Jones said family members and friends in Tonga were trying to find any sign of the yacht from various vantage points.

She said the family had reservations beforehand about her father's making the trip, but "this was his passion".

- NZPA