Family admitted to sell yacht

WELLINGTON: A British sailing family who pleaded to come to New Zealand after the death of their son have been allowed in.

Barbara Genda, Harry Jarman and their two children were sailing the world when tragedy struck in Tahiti, with the death of her 14yearold son Eddie in August.

Their application to sail to New Zealand on humanitarian grounds was recently declined.

A Ministry of Health spokesman told RNZ the family’s application to arrive in New Zealand for the purposes of delivery to a business had succeeded.

‘‘They met the criteria for this and were granted an exemption by the directorgeneral of health on 2 November.’’

The family wanted the yacht sold before returning to the UK where they planned to restart their lives.

The strong New Zealand market and boat maintenance infrastructure were why the family wanted to bring the yacht here.

The Auckland broker Conrad Gair, with whom the luxury yacht is listed, said recently yachts that would traditionally sail here to be sold were not allowed in under current border restrictions, and New Zealand was missing out.

‘‘If it comes to New Zealand and is sold to a New Zealander there are taxes. . . There could be a brokerage fee, repair work on the boat and stuff for other trades in our industry,’’ he said.