Mother of 3 vanishes on maiden voyage in her yacht
Wreckage found on shore
A MILLIONAIRESS was missing feared dead last night after her maiden voyage in her new yacht ended in disaster.
Ona Unwin, 65, was said to be in such ‘a big hurry to get to sea’ she ignored warnings that the Cornish coastline was too treacherous for an inexperienced solo sailor.
Stormy weather was closing in when she took the keys to the £32,000 vessel and told her husband Carol to go home in their car.
The mother of three planned to sail the yacht around Land’s End – from Falmouth, where she had bought it, to Bideford, where the couple lived in North Devon.
But the pensioner was reported missing on Saturday and a massive sea and air search was called off last night after wreckage was found on the shore.
Rescuers found no sign of anyone on board the craft, which they have yet to identify.
Two weeks ago, Mrs Unwin had remarried her husband following ten years spent living together while divorced.
And on Friday – six days after their wedding at picture-postcard Clovelly in North Devon – they visited Falmouth Yacht Brokers in Cornwall to buy Segair, a 31ft Moody yacht. Following the purchase, Mr Unwin left his wife and drove home.
Jerry Hobkirk, who runs the yacht brokers, said: ‘She seemed totally determined to take the yacht as quickly as possible.
‘She told us she had a “navy ticket”, which she said was some sort of qualification, but it didn’t mean anything to us.
‘We urged them to go and get some proper sailing qualifications at a local yacht school and assumed she would do so over the next few months. The next thing we heard, she
‘Particularly treacherous’
had taken the yacht and set off.’
Mr Hobkirk said he would not have allowed her to take the vessel had he known she was going to make the journey alone, and in foul weather.
‘You don’t buy a yacht on Friday and then try to sail it around Land’s End on your own on Saturday,’ he added. ‘That route is particularly treacherous. I’ve been sailing for 30 years and I wouldn’t just attempt it without a crew and proper planning.
‘I believe Mrs Unwin did go down to a sail school and had a chat with them on Friday, but I don’t think she completed much training.
‘From what I gather they also warned her strongly against trying to sail home – especially given the weather we were expecting at the weekend.
‘I don’t even know how much safety equipment there was on the boat – it could be that she left without even taking wet weather gear.’
Mrs Unwin is known to have made it to Mousehole, about 25 miles along from Falmouth on the South Cornwall coast.
She was last seen setting off from the fishing port on Saturday.
The wreckage was found a little farther along the coast toward Land’s End.
Her husband said yesterday he was clinging to hope that his wife, who he described as very independent minded, might still be alive.
‘She’s Royal Navy trained. She’s worked on tall ships training boats,’ he said. ‘She’s sailed to the Channel Islands and to France and I believe to the Mediterranean. Before she embarked on this trip she had an expert sail with her just to brush up on what she knew. And he was confident about her.’ The Reverend Shirley Henderson, who married the couple on October 5, said she was stunned by the news Mrs Unwin was missing.
She described her as ‘a terrific lady, a real larger than life and exuberant character’ and ‘a determined woman who wanted to get the most out of life’.
Mrs Unwin, who was known by her middle name Mary, has two grown-up daughters and a son, all of whom attended the couple’s wedding this month. Her son gave her away.
She appeared last year in a Channel 4 documentary about the rise of online pawn-broking. She featured as a case study after pawning a diamond ring to help her find the extra £5,000 she needed to afford an Aston Martin, later pawning a diamond bracelet to help pay for divorce costs. ‘I just like nice things,’ she said. ‘Who doesn’t like nice things? I didn’t want to wait.’
With a smile she added: ‘Since when do ladies want to wait for anything?’