Police are appealing for information after a 14-metre sailing vessel was found without its skipper on Cape Bedford beach. Photo: Queensland Police Service.
Cooktown police are appealing for information after an empty vessel was found beached on Cape Bedford on 14 September.
The boat was registered to 62-year-old American sailor Hartwell Champagne, who was travelling solo from Vanuatu to Australia this month.
Local police conducted a search of the area where the vessel was located on Sunday morning, but found no signs of the man.
Mr Champagne’s last logbook record was made on Wednesday, 10 September, and police are now calling on the public who may have spotted the boat to help piece together what happened in the three days before the vessel washed ashore.
A Cooktown police spokesperson said investigations were ongoing, but the search was no longer active.
“There are currently no physical searches underway; however, investigators are continuing to appeal for information regarding the sole occupant’s whereabouts and movements of the vessel prior to 14 September,” they said.
