Sailor rescued after days without sleep

A sailor who hadn't slept for three days clung to his upturned boat for hours early yesterday morning before being rescued. It was the man's first voyage on the boat, a trimaran, which he had bought in Stewart Island. He was attempting to sail it home to Christchurch, but the yacht started taking on water in a heavy swell and high winds south of Banks Peninsula. He was forced to radio for help in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Sumner Lifeboat coxswain Blair Quane who came to the rescue told reporter Matthew Theunissen the conditions were deteriorating.