Boat trip turns to tragedy - victim named

UPDATED: The man who died in yesterday's powerboat collision in Tauranga Harbour has been named. He was 63-year-old Richard Evans from Canada. It is understood Mr Evans was in Tauranga as part of a two-week holiday.
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One man is dead and another is seriously injured after a boat smashed into a channel marker in Tauranga Harbour yesterday afternoon.
The 65-year-old skipper of the day cabin runabout suffered severe facial injuries and was taken to shore by Tauranga Coastguard before being taken by ambulance to Tauranga Hospital.
The Welcome Bay man was in a serious condition in the hospital emergency ward yesterday afternoon but this morning was stable. It is understood his injuries are not life threatening.
The dead man's name had not been released at press time.
The crash happened as the skipper was making a turn between Motuhoa and Matakana Islands just before 2pm in what Tauranga Coastguard manager Simon Barker described as "very good, smooth" conditions.
The impact of the 5.5m vessel hitting the port-hand marker, which consists of two large wooden pools with a red cylinder and light on top, capsized the vessel leaving the hull and interior badly damaged and destroying the marker.
Geoff Bird, skipper of harbour passenger barge Skookum, said people aboard a small yacht came to the injured boatie's rescue but had no idea the body of his passenger was still inside the wreckage.
Mr Bird said the three men who were first on the scene did a remarkable job of treating the man with first aid and notifying emergency services of the crash.
"We saw the other gentleman. He looked in very, very poor shape with head injuries," he said.
"As far as we could tell they were amateur boaties but their communication was top notch. He [the injured man] was pretty incoherent but how much they got out of him at one stage was remarkable.
"At one point he mentioned his wife so they thought his wife was on board but as it turned out that wasn't the case."
When the Coastguard arrived, a search was made of the inside of the boat and the other man, who police described as elderly, was found. He had been trapped inside for at least 20 minutes, Mr Bird said.
Attempts to revive him at the scene were unsuccessful.
Mr Bird said the three men "looked like they had been through a bit" when the Skookum arrived.
It towed the boat's upturned wreckage back to Tauranga Bridge Marina where it was impounded for investigation by police.
Another ferry skipper, who spoke on condition of anonymity, came across the scene as vessels gathered around the wreckage.
"I just saw an upturned boat and all these guys all over the place... going around in circles and looking around, trying to salvage something," he said.
"There were just boats going backwards and forwards."
Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker said he heard the initial call for assistance on the radio and got the boat ready to head out.
He was joined by volunteer Calvern Sing, who said the crashed vessel looked fairly new and only had about "30 hours on the clock".
Regional Harbour Master Carl Magazinovic said in the four years he had been in the role he had never heard of a two-pole marker being hit.
"It has happened where people have hit some of our plastic buoys before but while I've been here nobody's hit a beacon like that.
"It's about people paying attention when they're on the water but I don't know what caused it, I've got no idea."
He said the crash happened well over 200m from the shore where the 5 knot speed limit applies.
"People go along there (where the crash occurred) quite quickly."
Mr Magazinovic said a temporary channel marker would be erected by today.
Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders said police were working with Maritime New Zealand to determine the exact cause of the crash.
Local iwi have placed a rahui (temporary ban) on Tauranga Harbour for three days following the death. The rahui is a ban on people collecting seafood from the Tauranga Harbour area in this time.
Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact Tauranga Police Station on (07) 577 4300.