When Seconds Matter: A Lesson in Lifejackets
In March 2025, brothers Ian and Allen Hurne set out for a day's fishing on Lake Rotoiti, Bay of Plenty. Ian had been boating since his days in Sea Scouts and always carried a lifejacket, he just never thought he'd need to wear one. That day changed everything.
The brothers were trolling on the lake when they heard cries for help from three people in a nearby jet boat. Like many Kiwis would, Ian and Allen went to help and began towing the boat towards shore.
At first, they thought the situation was under control. But more water began coming into the jet boat and, as it sank, it pulled Ian and Allen’s boat under with it, stern-first, into 22 metres of water.
"It was seconds, not minutes or hours," Ian says. "There was no time to reach a lifejacket."
Ian and Allen clung to a seat cushion and floating chilly bags for around 90 minutes. Several boats passed without seeing them before a vessel responding to a Coastguard all-stations mayday call pulled them from the cold lake water. All five people from the two boats survived.
The experience changed the brothers’ approach to lifejackets. Now, no one steps onto their boat without wearing one – and they’ll leave any future tows to Coastguard.
