"Gordon" wrote in message
m...
Here is the media release from Maritime NZ, pasted from their website:

2 August 2010

Two men have been rescued by a cargo ship after their yacht capsized in
stormy seas near Niue yesterday, the Rescue Coordination Centre New
Zealand (RCCNZ) says.

RCCNZ detected an emergency locator beacon signal from the
American-flagged 57-foot (around 17 metres) catamaran Anna yesterday about
4pm.

The signal was coming from a location around 126 nautical miles (around
233 kilometres) west of Niue. Local weather reports indicated heavy seas
and storm conditions.
Repeated efforts to contact the yacht were unsuccessful, despite Anna
having a range of communications equipment on board.

RCCNZ dispatched an Air Force P3 Orion from New Zealand and the cargo ship
Forum Pacific, 80 nautical miles away from Anna, was asked to divert to
the signal's location.

The P3 Orion arrived on scene about 11pm yesterday and found Anna capsized
and inverted. However, the American skipper and his New Zealand crewman
were safe, one still on board Anna, and one in an inflatable dinghy
attached to the catamaran.


Capsized and inverted - unfortunately this is the one stable position for a
multihull. Why do people go to sea in these unstable craft? Certainly they
know how unstable and dangerous these craft really are yet they persist in
their belief that maybe it won't happen to them. Sorry, but when you sail a
craft that is more stable inverted than rightside-up then, sooner or later,
you will find yourself and your craft inverted. It doesn't take a rocket
scientist . . .



Wilbur Hubbard





The P3 Orion maintained a vigil over the men overnight while Forum Pacific
made its way to the scene.

RCCNZ Search and Rescue mission controller Mike Roberts said the cargo
ship arrived about 6am and the two men were now safe on board and en route
to Niue.

RCCNZ had broadcast a navigation warning to other vessels advising of the
location of the capsized catamaran.

Mr Roberts said the fact the beacon was GPS-enabled had greatly assisted
the men's rescue.
"With GPS positioning, we were able to accurately pinpoint the location of
the vessel and send the Orion directly to the scene. Given the stormy
conditions, the speed that we were able to reach the men made a huge
difference to their safety.

"Furthermore, the fact the beacon was registered meant we were able to
contact the skipper's wife and obtain information as to who was on board
and what kind of equipment they had with them."