Coastguard officers are urging boaties to use common sense for today's big Auckland Anniversary Day regatta, after a chaotic weekend on the water.
Auckland Volunteer Coastguard vessels went from one rescue to another and weary officers last night pleaded with boaties to respect the conditions and not be foolish.
The strong winds
and high seas also made life difficult for the crews of AmericaOne and Prada in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series in the Hauraki Gulf.
And the conditions are believed to have claimed a life in Auckland. A windsurfer disappeared after entering the Waitemata Harbour at Pt Chevalier on Saturday.
Stewart Andrew Young, aged 28, of Blockhouse Bay, is missing, presumed drowned. Police had coordinated a large-scale search.
Volunteer coastguard duty officer Jaron Phillips said anyone taking to the water today should listen to the forecast first and take full safety equipment.
Expected wind gusts of up to 40 knots could make conditions dangerous, and "if you're not up to it, stay home."
Mr Phillips said a spate of weekend incidents involved inexperienced boaties going out in small, ill-equipped craft to watch the cup racing.
"They would be much better staying home and watching it on TV," he said.
Yesterday, an 18-year-old kayaker was separated from his kayak 200m off Eastern Beach, Howick. He had no lifejacket and had to cling to a buoy until rescued.
Other incidents included:
* A catamaran capsizing with a broken mast off Mairangi Bay.
* A catamaran capsizing off Cheltenham Beach, leaving two people in the water for 30 minutes.
* Two people in the water for 20 minutes after their catamaran capsized off Murrays Bay.
* Two people rescued off St Leonards Beach.
* Several small sailing dinghies overturning off East Coast Bays.
* An 18ft runabout in trouble when its owners tried to sail from Great Barrier Island to Gulf Harbour, Whangaparaoa.
Wind gusts of up to 35 knots on Saturday made it treacherous for the cup boats - AmericaOne suffering the most damage.
A mast was damaged, a spinnaker exploded - the eighth of the regatta - and three crew members suffered bad bruising.
Conditions were better yesterday - the wind was between 15 and 25 knots - but again AmericaOne tore a spinnaker.
