Missing yachtsmen: Upturned catamaran spotted off the coast of Mauritius
The families of three missing South African yachtsmen are making every effort to relocate the stricken yacht and bring her to the nearest port before she moves into busy shipping lanes or worse.
NEW information of a sighting of an upturned catamaran by a passing container ship close to 600 nautical miles off the coast of Mauritius has caused mixed emotions for the families of missing yachtsmen Anthony Murray, Reginald (Reg) Robertson and Jaryd Payne.
Nicole Payne posted a status on the Facebook page – ‘Searching for Anthony, Reg & Jaryd‘ – four hours ago. The post read:
“We are distressed to inform you that an upturned catamaran has been sighted by a passing container ship close to 600 NM off the coast of Mauritius.
“The position at that moment late last week was 27 26.4S 064 30E. As of this moment we do not have 100 per cent confirmation that this is our yacht, but the experts who have been advising us believe it to be so.
“Naturally this is extremely difficult for the families to handle but we are now making every effort to relocate the stricken yacht and bring her to the nearest port before she moves into busy shipping lanes or worse.
“Already two ships passing the initial sighting area have not managed to see her again, making time of the absolute essence.
“This is a sudden and urgent development that falls outside the remit of the South African search and rescue authorities, as it is now classified as a salvage. They are, however, attempting to assist in properly identifying, securing, and bringing the vessel to shore.
“We have so far not had any communication from the boat owners on this but we continue to appeal to them.We have also requested that they urgently ask Tomnod to reposition their satellites in the area of drift which has been created by the authorities since the first sighting.
“Again we have not had a reply, but we will continue to press them on this as part of our efforts to find the yacht and also, possibly, a life-raft.
“We thank you all again for your hours, days and months of dedication in helping us find Anthony, Reg and Jaryd. To know that we have a community out there, searching and supporting us over this terrible time, means more than you will ever know. We will keep you updated should any more information come to light.”
The missing Leopard 44 catamaran left Cape Town harbour on 14 December and was being delivered to Phuket, Thailand by skipper, Anthony Murray (58), formerly from Cowies Hill, and two crew members, Reginald (Reg) Robertson (60) and Jaryd Payne (20).
