SW-INC-0009SeaWise Incidents

Flooding and abandonment off Cape Reinga

The 42 ft monohull was abandoned 80 nm WNW of Cape Reinga; crew recovered by a container ship.

likely · 2 sourcesNF
Vessel
Rauruahine42 ft · Sailing yacht
When
2017South Pacific
Crew
2 aboardAll survived
Outcome
Abandoned
Position
80 nm WNW of Cape Reinga, New Zealand
Sea area
Tasman Sea
Coordinates
-34.00°S, 171.50°EApproximate position
Summary

What happened.

The 42 ft monohull Rauruahine was abandoned 80 nm WNW of Cape Reinga after a chainplate failure flooded the saloon; crew of two recovered by container ship.

Lessons learned

What it teaches.

  • 1
    A pulled chainplate floods from above the waterline as the boat heels — a path emergency soft-wood plugs won't close. Inspect chainplate bedding and backing plates on schedule.
    flooding prep to sail
Sources

Where this comes from.

News· RNZYacht crew rescued by container ship off Cape ReingaVisit ↗Forum· CruisersForumChainplate failure and downflooding — discussionVisit ↗

SeaWise indexes and links to primary sources; it does not host their reports or media. Crew are referred to by role unless documented consent is on file.

From SeaWise

Procedures involved.

ProcedurePrimary

Flooding

Procedure

Abandon Ship

Explore

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FloodingStructural failureAbandon shipSouth Pacific
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Record IDSW-INC-0009
Curated bySeaWise editorial
Confidencelikely · 2 sources
Record typeIncident

About SeaWise records: We catalogue sailing emergencies with structured metadata and link to primary sources rather than republishing them. Individual crew names are anonymised by default— sources we link to may name them publicly; SeaWise refers to roles ("the skipper", "the crew") on our pages. Submitter identities are always private.