Missing sailor's yacht found drifting at sea

HOPE was fading last night for a lone yachtsman after his empty boat was found drifting at anchor in gale-lashed seas off Scotland's west coast.

Neil MacKenzie is feared to have either slipped while working on deck or been dragged overboard in heavy seas, after setting sail from the marina at Arisaig ten days ago.

The experienced yachtsman, from Westhill in Aberdeen, is understood to have disappeared after leaving the Highland port to sail his vessel, the Solitaire, back to the North-east.

There have been heavy seas and winds gusting between Force 5 and Force 8 (galeforce) in the area in recent days.

The alarm was raised after Mr MacKenzie's wife contacted the emergency services on Wednesday night.

Her husband, who had been planning to hand in work for an Open University course, failed to make contact. The lone yachtsman had last made contact with family on Tuesday 14 September.

Police found his Subaru Forester car still parked in the car park close to the Arisaig marina.

Yesterday, after a major land, sea and air search was launched to find the missing sailor, his 30ft single-masted yacht was found deserted and lying at anchor in a bay in the Sound of Arisaig by the crew of the Mallaig lifeboat.

A spokesman for Northern Constabulary said: "Mr Mackenzie has still to be found."

Mr Mackenzie, 59, is understood to have owned the yacht, which he bought in Canada, for 30 years and had sailed it on a crossing of the Pacific from Vancouver.

The yacht has been berthed at Arisaig for some years, and Mr Mackenzie had used the port to take it on day trips to various lochs and the small isles in the area. However, earlier this month he had driven to Arisaig with the intention of sailing the yacht back to Aberdeen.

Yesterday, the Mallaig and Tobermory lifeboats were launched to join in the search, together with the Coastguard rescue helicopter based at Stornoway and eight Coastguard rescue teams

The vast coastal search involved coastal rescue teams on the islands of Canna, Rum, Eigg, Coll and Mull and mainland teams based at Kilchoan, Fort William and Mallaig.

A Coastguard spokeswoman said the vessel appeared to be undamaged.

Strong winds and high waves

MISSING yachtsman Neil MacKenzie may have slipped while working on the deck of his yacht Solitaire and fallen into stormy seas off the west coast.

Another theory is that he was dragged overboard by strong winds and high waves, as the area where the yacht was found has been hit by bad weather in recent days. A Coastguard spokeswoman explained that Wednesday night's initial search for Mr MacKenzie had been hampered by the fact that the vessel had been in the habit of doing short day trips and that there was no clear route for the rescue services to search along.