Yacht sighted but no sign of sailor

Press, 4 May 1978, Page 6

Yacht sighted but no sign of sailor

PA Sydney A Royal Australian Air Force Hercules yesterday found the overdue New Zealand Tasman race yacht Josephine II lying apparently dismasted off the northern New South Wales coast, but has reported that there was no sign of life aboard the craft.

The yacht, sailed by an. Auckland man. Bill Belcher.) aged 66. was spotted lying on; ) its side in a reef area 650 km: (off the coast. Nothing has' been heard from Mr Belcher since his last radio message ■ on April 14, six days after the) i race started and a day or two) ’before a hurricane that cap-i sized two other entrants in) the 15-yacht field. Mr Belcher, who won the! past race, which is between; |New Plymouth and Mooloo-i ■laba. Queensland, is now the) onlv competitor still missing.) The Canberra Marine Oper-' ations Centre, which is con-; iducting the search for Mr Belcher. said last evening it had alerted vessels in the area. :and asked them to divert to 'the reef, known as Middleton Reef. It also intended) I sending a surface vessel to I I the reef todav. Middleton Reef has been) the scene of several shipwrecks. and at least two) stranded vessels on the reef; have been stocked with food; and other provisions for shipwrecked sailors. In normal! seas the reef is slightly above) water. An official of the Mooloo-J laba Yacht Club said that; there were several possibilities that Mr Belcher was still alive. In his last radio report almost three weeks ago Mr Belcher reported that he and'

.his 10m sloop were vying for (the lead. Nothing has been ’heard from his emergency radio beacon and it could not I be ascertained last evening 'whether his life raft was still ’aboard the Josephine 11. I Another entrant in the race | who had been missing, John Jury, arrived at Sydney vesI terday after being rescued bv a bulk carrier on Monday from his crippled yacht off ; the Queensland coast. Jury's story of the hurriI cane which lie and his boat i Easterly One encountered reduces the hopes for Belcher’s ■safety. Jury, an amputee, aged 54, said that he had had enough of solo yacht racing across the Tasman. “I don’t want to do it i again,” he said. His plan for I the future? “To live to be 70.” I Jury said his yacht rolled lover three times in one day, ! and twice during the night ■ that followed turned on to [the cabin top before righting | itself. ! He s - aid the storm struck j on the seventh or eighth day after leaving New Plymouth I on April 8. “It was slow coming up, and I sailed straight into it,” he said. The area in which he was 'sailing, north of Lord Howe

Island, was where Belcher 1 was last heard from. The first time Easterly One rolled over it was dismasted. By then most of the sails had already been blown out by the hurricane-force winds, but Jury managed to fix a sea anchor, and later to juryrig his yacht in his attempt to sail to Australia. A former Auckland bricklayer now semi-retired as caretaker on Moturua Island in the Bay of Islands, Jury had only a car compass and ■ the stars left to navigate by: Jury said he rationed himself a can of food a day, but for the last week had been eating the reconstituted raw meat. There was enough for one meal a day, and it would have lasted another seven or eight days. Running out a little more quickly, however, was his sherry. “The wine would have lasted another three or four days," he said. “It would have been a disaster if that) had run out. Half a pint of | wine on an empty stomach! is very good. It helped me I when I felt depressed.” j Easterly One, valued at) $25,000, had to be abandoned. It was not insured.

Jury said he bought Easterly One with the compensation he received when his leg was amputated after an accident at work.