YACHT CAPSIZED.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 79, 3 April 1911, Page 6

YACHT CAPSIZED.

IN MAKUKAU HABBOUB. ~

-li. . :. ■I, ONE MAN LOST. *J l£g

THREE OF CREW SAFE, ~

-. About 11 o'clock yesterfiay morning the yacht Valkyrie capsized in Huia Bay about two miles from the wharf. Three of the crew of four clung to the boat, but the other man evidently sustained some injury to his head when the boat overturned, and he could not help himself. The other men held him up, however, until Mr. William Evans, who saw the accident from the shore, came off to them in hie launch and rescued the three men. The other man, (Ennnerson Taylor by name, appeared to be quite dead when . picked up, and he did not recover consciousness. There is a, bruise and a cut on his forehead which bears out the etory of the other men that he was stunned by a blow on the head when the Iboat upset. The three survivors were comfortably - housed at Uuia hist xSght with two of the residents, Messrs. JJarr and Turner, and they are little or nothing the worse for their trying experience. This morning at 5 a.m. Sergeant Rogers of the One- . smnga Police, set out for Huia with a ' fisherman named Charles AVhite in his iboat, an auxiliary cutter. They returned to Onehunga shortly after midday, .bringing -wsth them the three men and the body "of the aihf orturiate young man •Taylor. (The body now lies at the Manufcau Hotel, where an inquest will probably ibe held this afternoon. There was considerable alarm at Oneliunga yesterday afternoon when it became known that a yacht, supposed to be the Valkyrie, had been overturned in - 'Huia Bay. The news reached the port by a somewhat circuitous route, and it was impossible to obtain complete or reliable informastion regarding the accident. The news reached the Onttmnga police from the lightkeeper "at South * Head, but he had received the news from the signalman at North Head. In all probability the latter did not himself see the accident, but was informed of it by eomeone who witnessed it from the land, and hastened overland to get the news away by the quickest possible means. In the evening and this morning it was impossible to communicate with, the signalman on account of the thick weather, which made it impossible for any signals he might ■wish to send to be seen and Jead. When ihe news reached Qnehunga, Sergeant Rogers, acting on instructions from Inspector Cullen, at once endeavoured to obtain a launch to go to Huia, but the owner of the largest and safest boat in the harbour refused to risk his life and

Jiis boat in the heavy sea which all knew must be running near the heads. For

ilhe heavy north-easterly gale had already made the harbour very rough, and as the wind was freshening rather than abating, it was not a night for small era ft to be away from safe anchorage.

Nothing could be done until this morning, when the sea and the wind had abated to some extent. Meantime the gravest fears were entertained for the safety oi" the crew, which was at that time supposed to comprise five young men. In actual fact only four men, Enunerson Taylor (who is now dead) Thomas Atkinson Bentley., Leslie Brockerley, and John Leahy, went away on the ill-starred cruise. The fifth man who had arranged to go, decided at the last moment not to go on account of the threatening weather prospects. The deceased Taylor, who was one of the owners of the Valkyrie, was about 20 years.of age, and he was employed in the Ouehunga Woollen Factory. Bentley. .who is about 23 years old, and Brockerley, about. 20 years old, are also employed at the mill. Leahy, a youth of 18 a clerk in the Onehunga Sawmilling office.

The yacht Valkyrie is of a type not ■•tralt-coanmon -in- the harbour. * She". -is a': centre-board <boat, -but on the

(water -her overhanging bow and long counter give 'her. the appearance of a ikeel boat, fine is only a very , light draught' Boat, and one that would need careful sailing in rough-water. Lately Ithe owners, blinking that her mast and imainsail were too small for speedy sailing, obtained a larger eail and another mast. .;•.:;..

* ...The part of the coast where the accij $ent occurred is one of the most danger- " wis for yachts in the whole harbour. The ; '.bills on the shore are high and preeipi-, J ious, and unexpected gusts not infre- » quently take yachtsmen unawares. Pass--1 ing from Puponga Point to Huia Bay the »tValkyrie was close hauled, when a big iitiller and a heavy gust of wind struck tfltt at the same time. The crew let go ; the sheet; the boat could not Tight ;; •■herself, anA "they we're all thrown into - fte water.

young, "men were going on their ' iisiia! week-end cruise when they met with ;. ihe accident. Their boat was built by _ the deceased Taylor and his brother. It as a fairly large boat, 35ft overall, or about 26ft on the water line, and in model Is more like a large patiki than a boat of i Jiny other fype.