Death of a Blenheim Sailor.

[wheels 543]

This came as a bit of a shock to Dawn and I tonight. We both knew Neil. I also know Ross (the Boats owner) very well and I was reading the news last night, but the name of the person had not been released at that stage.

The 69-year-old man Marlborough man who died while sailing to Tonga was Neil Croad.

Police released Mr Croad's name this afternoon and said he had died suddenly natural causes about 5am yesterday while sailing off the East Coast yesterday.

He was one of four friends on the 12.9m-metre Beviamo sailing to Tonga and Fiji after leaving Waikawa on Sunday night.

The yacht turned back to Gisborne after the death and came into port yesterday afternoon.

Police said earlier that the crew called maritime radio about 5.15am yesterday to say Mr Croad had died and that the yacht was returning to land. It arrived in Gisborne about 2.30pm.

Police confirmed he had died of natural causes and neither they nor the coroner would be investigating further.

Yacht owner Ross Anderson, who was informed of the death when the boat reached Gisborne, said the four people on board were all close friends.

"It is a bit soon to say anything just yet until I've had a talk with the skipper about what happened.''

Mr Croad is a semi-retired business owner from Blenheim and was widely involved in the community. He had his own yacht based at Waikawa and was regarded as an experienced sailor.

His family have asked for privacy.

[Guest]

Such a surprise to everyone. What a loss. Thank goodness they were still close enough to NZ to be able to return him home.