Millionaire who had 2 sailing lessons died on 140-mile solo trip
‘Obviously inexperienced’
A MILLIONAIRE died after she bought a £30,000 yacht and tried to sail it home alone through some of Britain’s most treacherous waters, an inquest heard.
Ona ‘ Mary’ Unwin, 65, bought the vessel while on holiday with her husband but had no idea how to sail it, the hearing was told.
After taking just two lessons, she sneaked out of her hotel room at night to embark on an ill-fated solo trip around the coast of Cornwall – a journey of about 140 nautical miles.
Mrs Unwin ignored repeated warnings that it was too dangerous and continued out to sea, despite scraping her 30ft yacht, the Seagair, along the harbour wall as she left. The mother of four also smashed into a fishing boat and made a series of other mistakes, the court heard.
She was seen sailing with the fenders still attached and was using the boat’s small motor instead of the sail because she had been unable to hoist it. She also refused to wear a life-jacket, claiming she didn’t need one because she could swim, police said.
Wreckage of the vessel was found between Land’s End and Sennen Cove. But despite a large-scale search, Mrs Unwin’s body was never found and nearly seven years later she has been officially declared dead by a coroner.
The inquest heard that it was likely she struck rocks and drowned while trying to sail from Falmouth, Cornwall, to Instow, Devon, a route that would have taken her via Land’s End.
But when she arrived in Mousehole she crashed her yacht into a fishing boat owned by Finbar Jones, who went over to confront her.
He said in a statement read at the inquest in Truro, Cornwall, that he realised Mrs Unwin had little or no boat-handling skills
and was concerned to learn of
her plans. Mr Jones added: ‘We insisted that she shouldn’t leave – it was obvious to me that she was inexperienced. But she insisted and said it was just like driving a car at night. She was very scatty and very determined. Basically, there was no stopping her.
‘As she left the harbour she managed to scrape about one third of the boat on the harbour wall. She was about half a mile away from the harbour and I could see she had two fenders dragging in the sea – these should have been pulled in before she left the harbour. This was the last time I saw the boat and the female.’
Mrs Unwin, a former saleswoman from Bideford, Devon, was married to Carol Unwin and had four children from a previous marriage.
In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Unwin described his wife as being very strong-willed.
He said the pair had decided to buy the boat on Friday, October 11, 2012, before retiring to a hotel. He woke up alone, and later received a phone call from Mrs Unwin, who said: ‘Guess where I am?’
He added: ‘Our marriage was good, Mary was a strong individual who didn’t mess about.
‘I thought she was fabulous. She could be difficult but never with malice.’
Giving evidence, DC Martin Hearn from Devon and Cornwall Police said Mrs Unwin had taken two sailing lessons shortly before setting off.
He said the instructors rated Mrs Unwin’s skill in sailing as being between a crew member and a day sailor – not capable of solo sailing.
He also said one instructor suspected she was not listening to his advice, and that she couldn’t hoist the main sail.
Stephen Covell, assistant coroner for Cornwall, recorded an open conclusion.
He said: ‘I accept that the evidence shows the boat foundered on rocks off the coast between Land’s End and Sennen.
‘The particular circumstances in which Mary died are unknown. There are a few details that can be said and I am satisfied that she is deceased.
‘She was someone who was strong-willed and unrealistically thought that she could sail the boat from Falmouth.’