NO TRACE FOUND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26692, 11 February 1948, Page 5

NO TRACE FOUND

NEW ZEALAND CUTTER RANGI UNSUCCESSFUL AERIAL SEARCH Rec. 11.30 p.m. SYDNEY, Feb. 10. The Catalina which is searching the Tasman Sea south-west of Lord Howe Island for the missing New Zealand cutter Rangi has reported that it has seen no trace of the yacht. The Catalina is not expected to return to the mainland till late to-night. Should its search to-day be unsuccessful, four Lincoln bombers will go out from Amberley to-morrow morning, and will continue the search south-west and south-east of Lord Howe Island, where they Catalina Inves off to-day. Yachtsmen believe that unless the Rangi was disabled she should have reached Sydney four days ago. Although fitted with radio, she has not communicated with the shore since she left Auckland 17 days ago. Her disability in heavy seas lies in the fact that her sides are low. Only an exceptional mishap which seriously damaged the deck or the hull of the ship could cause her to founder, but she may have been dismasted by the cyclone. If so, the only hazard her crew face is a shortage of water or food.

Commenting on the view of New Zealand yachting officials that it is too early for alarm over the Rangi’s non-arrival, the secretary of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Mr J. A. Kyd, said that when the Rangi last took part in the race in 1931 she met unusually severe weather, and this was the reason for her taking nearly 20 days to cross.