Rescued trio 'stupid beyond belief'

Three British tourists in a home-built raft whop had to be rescued off Lake Wakatipu yesterday have been labelled as "stupid beyond belief".

The trio made the raft out of four truck-tyre inner tubes lashed together with bungy cords and a duct-taped wooden frame for an overnight trip to Pigeon Island on Wednesday.

They did not have lifejackets and when they tried to get back to the mainland on Thursday they were blown off course in bad weather and had to be rescued by the Queenstown coastguard.

Queenstown Lakes harbourmaster Marty Black said the man and two young women were stupid beyond belief.

"It was only luck that prevented coastguard volunteers from hauling in three body bags yesterday morning," he told The Southland Times.

"There is a clear message here, and that is to make sure anyone using the lake needs to be properly prepared," he said.

"So many basics were not covered, starting with not taking lifejackets.

"The girls only had light cotton clothing, there was no food and they could have taken a cellphone with them to call for help."

- NZPA