A joint training exercise heralding closer ties between Queenstown Coastguard and commercial operators on Lake Wakatipu - prompted by the deaths of French kayakers Yoann Firdion (24) and Raphael Soubrier (21) earlier this month - was held in the resort last night.
Search and Rescue (SAR) head Senior Sergeant John Fookes, of Queenstown, was joined by New Zealand Coastguard unit training officer and commercial skipper Fiona Gannaway, South Island Coastguard operations manager Mark Whitehouse and 40 commercial operators and Queenstown Coastguard volunteers for a briefing at Queenstown Police Station and a scaled-down SAR training exercise on the lake which followed.
Snr Sgt Fookes outlined a plan whereby commercial and non-commercial skippers' experience and knowledge of the "nuances of the lake" would be gathered and assessed by Queenstown Lakes District Council harbourmaster Marty Black.
Mr Black would then use that information to decide which operators were most suitable as "first cab off the rank" in future emergencies on the lake.
