/ 14 September 1999

MISSING YACHTSMEN SAIL INTO HARBOUR

A YACHT thought to have sunk off the KwaZulu-Natal north coast on Monday night sailed into the Richard’s Bay harbour on Tuesday afternoon, its three crew members seemingly none the worse for wear. A massive search for the men was launched on Tuesday morning amid reports that their vessel had sunk about 55 nautical miles north-east of Richard’s Bay. Dave Sivewright of the National Sea Rescue Institute said it is not clear what transpired on Monday night, but it appears as if radio communication between the skipper and other yachtsmen had somewhere along the line been misconstrued as a distress call. A fixed wing Dakota from Ysterplaat air force base in Cape Town, two SA Air Force oryx helicopters from 15 Squadron in Durban, the police and the National Sea Rescue Institute were all involved in the search.