Students injured after boat collision

A Whangarei woman is in Wellington Hospital with a broken leg after the Outward Bound cutter she was on was run down by a Dolphin Watch catamaran in the Marlborough Sounds this afternoon.

The collision happened at 2.10pm about 20 minutes from Picton, towards Motuara Island in the Queen Charlotte Sound.

It left the 11 trainees aboard the cutter, aged from 18 to 30, in the water as their 7m cutter sunk.

The two most seriously injured - women aged 29 and 27 and suffering a broken leg and suspected broken ankle respectively - were airlifted to Wellington Hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. One turned out to have only a sprained ankle, and she was released this afternoon.

Six others from the cutter were taken to Blenheim's Wairau Hospital by ambulance, while the 18 people aboard the catamaran were not injured.

A police spokeswoman said the students were paddling aboard the Outward Bound cutter when the collision happened.

"They saw the Dolphin Watch Eco Boat approaching and tried unsuccessfully to alert its skipper that they were on a collision course," the spokeswoman said.

"The 7m Outward Bound cutter was run down and several of those aboard have been injured.

"The Outward Bound students were rescued from the water and ferried to Picton by a boat from nearby Lochmara Lodge and by the Dolphin Watch boat."

A passenger on the catamaran, Nelson woman Alison Kelso, told the Marlborough Express she was facing Picton when she felt a huge thud in her back. People were screaming, and children were thrown to the deck.

The Dolphin Watch skipper has been stood down while police and the Maritime Safety Authority investigate the collision.

Dolphin Watch Ecotour co-owner Paul Keating told the newspaper the skipper was a well-known Picton man and an experienced captain.

"From a company point of view, anyone involved in a collision has to be stood down. It's very traumatic and we have to let people off to deal with that," Mr Keating said.

- NZPA