Search resumes for missing yacht

An aerial search was due to begin at first light again today for a yacht now four days overdue on a voyage from Tauranga to Gisborne.

An Air Force Orion and another plane yesterday found no trace of the 11-metre yacht Tafadzwa or the sole occupant, Paul Van Rensburg, 40.

He left Tauranga on Friday and was due to begin a new job in Gisborne on Monday but authorities were alerted when he failed to turn up to work.

The steel-hulled sloop made an excellent target to find with the search aircraft's radar, said Keith Allen from the Rescue Co ordination Centre in Wellington.

Mr Van Rensburg has failed to answer VHF radio calls but may be out of range or have his radio turned off.

He may also have under-estimated how long the voyage from Tauranga to Gisborne would take and may have been hit by the southerly storm which raced up the east coast during the weekend.

By late yesterday when the search was called off for the day the aircraft had covered about 44,000 square miles.

The search area ranged from the Mercury Islands down to Gisborne, and out to around 200 nautical miles offshore, Mr Allen said.

The search centre had worked on a plan overnight on the best approach for the Orion which would probably see the search area extended to the north today.

- NZPA