Runaway yacht at Omaha investigated

Efforts to re-float the yacht have so far been unsuccessful.

The Auckland Harbourmaster is investigating the circumstances surrounding the stranding of a yacht on a sandbank in Whangateau Harbour during the remnants of ex-cyclone Lola late last month.

In the stormy weather and coinciding king tides, the yacht Chieftain broke free from a swing mooring at Ti Point and was blown down the estuary, before lodging on the sandbank, opposite the Omaha boat ramp. En route, it allegedly struck another vessel moored in the harbour.

Chieftain’s owner Boyd Gunn declined to comment, but in Faceboo...