Police appeal for sightings of missing boat

Police are appealing for sightings of a missing motorboat which continued to run after its owner was tipped overboard off the Wairarapa coast yesterday.

The owner of the five-metre twin-hull motorboat was checking his crayfish pots about 100m off Sandy Bay, just north of Castle Point, 69km northeast of Masterton, when he was flipped out of the boat in a heavy swell, police said.

The boat, which would normally be stopped by a kill switch, continued out to open sea minus the driver who was left to swim to shore.

Police said the boat, described as having red pontoons and a red engine, could wash ashore a long way from where it was lost and asked anyone who found it to contact police.

"Because of the tides and wind factors it is hard to predict which way or how far the boat might have drifted under motor power and after it ran out of petrol," police said.

The boat has a "Rock FM" logo and a "Ceasar" brand logo printed on it and may have two crayfish pots on board.

- NZPA