CUTTER AT AUCKLAND

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30947, 31 December 1965, Page 12

CUTTER AT AUCKLAND

Mast Broke In Heavy Seas

(N.Z. Press Association)

AUCKLAND, Dec. 30.

The 66ft American cutter, Nam Sang, limped to Auckland this morning under auxiliary power after being dismasted off the Poor Knights group at noon yesterday. The cutter was beating in heavy seas when the 80ft mast snapped in two places.

A member of the crew, Mr Vern Todd, who was below deck when the mast went, said this morning: “There was a noise like a pistol shot and the yacht, which was heeled over to the wind, just shot upright.” The skipper, Mr John Thompson, who was on deck, heard the crack and saw the mast and sails had gone.

“The wreckage went over the safety wire and started battering the side of the yacht. We were afraid that the mast would hole us,” he said.

The cutter sent out a mayday call to Marsden Point radio after the wreckage had threatened to foul her propeller. The pilot launch Manaia left her patrol duties in Bream Bay to go to her assistance but was recalled when the Nam Sang said she would go to Auckland under her own power after cutting away the wreckage. The Nam Sang would be in Auckland for at least two months, said Mr Thompson. He did not know if he would be able to have a mast built in New Zealand or have to get one from America.