Tragedy at the seaside

A holidaymaker has died in a boating tragedy off the coast of the Isle of Wight and another is lost at sea.

The body of design engineer Richard Perry, aged 28, from Brierley Hill, was pulled from the water by a coastguard helicopter.

A rescue operation was launched for a 20-year-old woman, thought to be from Stourbridge, who was with him. The search continues but was scaled down this morning.

Mr Perry’s body was formally identified yesterday at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport by his parents, who had travelled down to the Isle of Wight.

Mr Perry was found off Whitecliff Bay, more than half-a-mile away from where his boat was spotted by a member of the public. The 19ft vessel was found caught on a lobster-pot buoy line with no-one on board.

Mr Perry, of Victoria Street, was on holiday with four friends, a married couple in their 40s, their daughter, aged 20, and her boyfriend. According to police, at around 1.30pm on Wednesday the group took Mr Perry’s rigid inflatable boat (RIB) out from Bembridge Harbour to Whitecliff Bay, to the east of Bembridge. The group then divided, with the daughter and family friend heading out in the RIB to have a look at HMS Severn, which was anchored near Sandown.

Officers from the Isle of Wight and the Marine Support Unit launched a search and at the height of the rescue operation, lifeboats, the Hampshire police spotter plane and three Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) from the Royal Navy warship HMS Severn were involved in the search.

The Marine Accident Investigation Board is beginning its own inquiry into the incident.  A post mortem examination on Mr Perry will be held today and the Isle of Wight Coroner has been informed with an inquest expected to open next week.

The search for the woman, who was thought to have been wearing a green bikini, had to be suspended as light failed yesterday was but resumed at first light before finally being scaled down. It is thought neither Mr Perry, who owned the RIB, nor the woman had been wearing a life jacket.

A spokesman for the Maritime Coastguard Agency said it was understood the missing woman was a good swimmer, but expected a survival time to be around five hours.

Martin Humphray, managing director of Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park, where the group had been staying, said yesterday: “The park is offering all the support it can to the family at this time, as anyone would.”

Specialist marine officers from Hampshire police have launched an investigation and the Marine Accident Investigation Board is to carry out its own inquiry.

The woman has not yet been named.