Please select your home edition
Edition
Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

Dad won't accept his sailing daughter lost at sea

by Sail-World Cruising Round-up on 12 Jul 2013
Nina SW
One American Dad won't give up on his sailor daughter, thought lost at sea between New Zealand and Australia. The family is from southern American state of Louisiana, and Danielle Wright's father, Ricky Wright, is preparing to mount his own search.

Danielle was just 19 when she went missing with six other cruising sailors on a voyage between Opua and Newcastle on the New South Wales coastline.

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand has stopped looking for Nina and the seven people aboard. It was last heard from on June 4 when around 350nm west-northwest of New Zealand's Cape Reinga.

Since the yacht went missing reports have been negative about the condition of Nina when she left New Zealand. The yacht has been described as unseaworthy by some who observed her in Whangarei, and sailed by a skipper who refused to have 'gadgets' aboard.

One of the chief criticisms was that it had no SSB radio on board. Its EPIRB had to be turned on by hand, not on contact with the water.

It has also been reported that the 21-metre-long yacht had not been out of the water for three years and experts had noted while it was moored in Whangarei that its hull was warped. It would therefore have failed the standard 'Cat-1' inspection Maritime New Zealand imposes on all locally flagged vessels leaving.

Wright has told a US media outlet he has been in talks with Texas Equusearch, a firm that specialises in searching for lost people.

'We just got through with another call,' Wright said on Wednesday evening. 'We've been talking with Texas Equusearch. They're going to head up things for us.'

Wright says one concern is that Texas Equusearch does not own a long-range patrol aircraft, like the P3 Orion which New Zealand had been using in their search for the Nina.

'He's talking with some people down there now,' he said.

'We had an hour meeting tonight and a two-hour meeting last night. We are trying to build up some contacts, scrape up some data.'

Instead of trying to buy an appropriate airplane, Wright says the plan is to raise enough money to pay New Zealand for the use of its aircraft in future searches.

Nina, built in 1928, left Opua on May 29 with skipper David Dyche III, 58, his wife, Rosemary, 60, son David Dyche IV, 17, Evi Nemeth, 73, Kyle Jackson, 27 and Wright, all Americans. Also aboard was Matthew Wootton, 35. A leader of the British Greens, he refused on environmental grounds to fly.

Sea Sure 2025Maritimo S SeriesRooster 2025

Related Articles

Less than 48 hours to Rolex Fastnet Race
Battle lines are being drawn up Battle lines are being drawn up for the RORC's centenary Rolex Fastnet Race. As the final day of Admiral's Cup inshore racing took place in the Solent, so several yachts due to take part in Saturday's main event were out training.
Posted today at 9:03 pm
A Day at the WASZP Games
Video interviews with some of the sailors and supporters of the class The WASZP Games 2025, being held at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy in the UK, has attracted 248 of the foiling dinghies to take part in a week of varied and high intensity racing.
Posted today at 7:33 pm
Admiral's Cup David Maynard Thursday Gallery
First race of the day, captured for our viewing pleasure David Maynard was out on the water to catch the action from the first on Thursday of the Admiral's Cup Inshore Racing.
Posted today at 7:04 pm
World Sailing's inaugural Impact Report
Charting a new course for a sustainable future in sport World Sailing, the global governing body for the sport of sailing, today released its first Impact Report, a comprehensive overview of the federation's significant progress in environmental sustainability and social contribution.
Posted today at 3:33 pm
Yoann Richomme returns to Fastnet
Says Elodie Bonafous' is the boat to beat This weekend's biennial Rolex Fastnet Race - one of the oldest classics in sailing - sees the IMOCA Class return to the racetrack, with eight boats on the startline on Saturday for what is the second round of this year's IMOCA Globe Series Championship.
Posted today at 3:12 pm
2025 iQFOiL Youth & Junior Worlds kicks off
Over 20 races scheduled across eight days, with the world's top young windsurfers chasing the title The world's fastest young windsurfers are arriving in Brittany as the 2025 iQFOiL Youth & Junior World Championships get under way in Brest.
Posted today at 2:53 pm
Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Day 6
Arguably the best female Freestyle final of all time Sarah-Quita Offringa pushed all the way by Maaike Huvermann in arguably the best female Freestyle final of all time, while Yentel Caers wins ‘Battle of Belgium' against Steven Van Broeckhoven to hold respective event leads.
Posted today at 11:48 am
Admiral's Cup 2025 | D2 Inshore Racing Videos
One race and then it was all done. Very light and even a bit of liquid sunshine. One race and then it was all done. Very light and even a bit of liquid sunshine.
Posted today at 10:57 am
How to follow RORC Centenary Rolex Fastnet Race
At present 451 yachts are entered, which, if all start on Saturday, will break the previous record. This year's centennial edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race will set sail this Saturday, 26 July from the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes, Isle of Wight, bound for Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France.
Posted today at 10:30 am
WASZP Games 2025 Day 3
When racing got under way, it was a game of patience, persistence, and pressure-hunting Day 3 of the WASZP Games dawned with cautious optimism as the early risers in the boat park were greeted by a light but promising northerly breeze. However, an approaching front caused the race committee to call a three-hour postponement.
Posted today at 8:23 am