Missing yachtsman planned to sail around Australia

Posted Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:45pm AEDT - ABC

It has been revealed a man who disappeared from his sinking yacht in Hobart's River Derwent was planning to sail around Australia.

Police now believe 65-year-old Bob Chappell met with foul play and his boat was sabotaged.

Mr Chappell was the chief radiation physicist at the Royal Hobart Hospital's Holman Clinic.

Police say he was planning to retire soon and sail around the country, but he has not been seen since Australia Day, when he was renovating his 16-metre yacht off Sandy Bay and decided to spend the night on board.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell of Hobart CIB says the yacht was tampered with - an inlet valve was opened and a hose severed.

"We have grave concerns for the well-being of the man and we believe that there are certainly some suspicious circumstances surrounding his disappearance," he said.

The EPIRB (a personal beacon) and fire extinguisher were removed from the yacht.

Detective Inspector Powell says Mr Chappell had no financial worries and was considered a happy man.

"We're looking into the missing man's background to see if there's anything that's occurred in recent times that might make him want to disappear or anyone else might want to do any harm to him," he said.

Police today intensified their search.

Dinghy reports could hold key to yachtsman disappearance

Posted Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:19am AEDT - ABC

Police investigating the disappearance of a Hobart yachtsman are looking into reports a dinghy was seen tied to his yacht before it started sinking.

They now believe 65-year-old Bob Chappell met with foul play and his boat was sabotaged.

Police say he was planning to retire soon and sail around the country, but he has not been seen since Australia Day, when he was renovating his 16-metre yacht off Sandy Bay and decided to spend the night on board.

Police say there is evidence the boat was tampered with.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell says police are baffled by the case and are seeking any information from the public.

"I guess really anyone that might see anything that might come ashore or in the water," he said.

"There were a couple of items missing from the vessel itself and one of those is a large fire extinguisher and one is the actual EPIRB that was fitted to the vessel."

Beacon found as murder fears grow

Posted Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:27am AEDT - ABC
 

The emergency beacon belonging to a man who disappeared from his yacht on Hobart's River Derwent earlier this week has been found.

Police were called to Bob Chappell's sinking yacht on Tuesday, but found no trace of the 65 year old.

Police have ruled out misadventure or an accident, saying an inlet valve was opened, a hose was severed and the EPIRB and fire extinguisher were missing.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell has told ABC local radio Mr Chappell's EPIRB was found by a member of the public on the Wrest Point foreshore.

Police are investigating the possibility Mr Chappell was murdered.

He was last seen carrying out renovations on his yacht on Monday.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell says Mr Chappell was happy, had no financial worries and was planning to retire and sail his boat around Australia.

"Certainly someone's deliberately tried to sink the vessel, as to who that might have been or why we're not sure at this stage," Inspector Powell said..

Police are also investigating reports a dinghy was tied to the yacht not long before it began to sink.

Hopes beacon will provide clues to missing yachtsman

Posted Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:19pm AEDT - ABC
 

Hobart police are hoping an emergency beacon found on the Derwent foreshore will provide clues to the disappearance of a yachtsman.

65 year old Bob Chappell was last seen on Monday when he was renovating his 16 metre ketch in the River Derwent off Sandy Bay.

Authorities were alerted to the sinking boat the next morning, when there was no-one on board and an EPIRB and fire extinguisher were missing.

Police are investigating the possibility Mr Chappell was murdered

Detectives are now examining the EPIRB which a member of the public found on rocks near the Wrest Point foreshore and handed to police this morning.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell says police also continuing to search the area.

"We're actually going to do a bit of a check round the marina area there just to make sure that no other vessels in the area have been interfered with," Inspector Powell said.

"We're doing that basically as a matter of course just to be confident it was only this vessel that's had damage done to it," he said.

Maritime expert joins search for missing yachtsman

Posted 9 hours 6 minutes ago - Feb 5th 2009

Police in Hobart are using a maritime expert to help with their investigation into the disappearance of yachtsman Bob Chappell.

The 65-year-old radiation physicist was last seen on his yacht 'Four Winds' off Sandy Bay on Australia Day.

Police found his boat sinking in the Derwent the following morning and later discovered a hose had been severed.

Inspector Peter Powell says the maritime expert has been asked to work out how long the boat had been taking on water before police arrived.

"He's basically measuring up the vessel and making his assessment of it and then it will give us an indication of when the vessel may have started taking on water and how long it would have been taking on water," Inspector Powell.

"We're pretty keen to know when the damage was actually caused on the vessel and that will give us a time line when some of those events happened on board."

Police are looking at the possibility that Mr Chappell has been murdered.

Still no leads on missing yachtsman

Posted Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:34am AEDT - ABC

Detectives in Hobart say there are still no leads in the search for missing yachtsman, Bob Chappell.

The 65 year old cancer specialist was last seen on his yacht, Four Winds on Australia Day, off Sandy Bay.

The next morning the boat was sinking and police found evidence of sabotage onboard.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell says forensic testing has turned up nothing new.

He says six detectives are working on the case.

"They're really wading their way through all the information we've been obtaining about Mr Chappell's background and family members," Insp. Powell said.

"Obviously to try and ascertain if there's anything in his background that might cause someone to want to harm him," he said.

Inspector Peter Powell says he's hoping investigators will turn up something.

"The possibilities are that he's come to harm by someone else's hand, he's disappeared for his own reasons or I guess that he may have even committed suicide," he said.

"If that's happened the mystery is, as to where his body might be."

Police contacted again over missing yachtie

Posted 3 hours 47 minutes ago
Updated 3 hours 37 minutes ago - March 11th 2009 - ABC

Tasmanian Police say they have had another breakthrough in the disappearance of Hobart cancer specialist Bob Chappell.

Police say they have made contact again with a witness they had been wanting to hear from.

The man called them shortly after Bob Chappell went missing on Australia Day.

He said he had seen a dinghy near Mr Chappell's yacht, Four Winds, at the Marieville Esplanade marina between 11:00 pm and midnight on the night he disappeared.

Yesterday police confirmed they had received significant information over the past two weeks that could help solve the mystery and they called on the anonymous witness to contact them again.

He made contact yesterday and police say he has given them more valuable information about the dinghy's movements.

Police found Mr Chappell's yacht taking on water in the River Derwent and later confirmed it had been sabotaged.

Partner of missing Tas yachtsman speaks

Posted Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:46am AEDT
Updated Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:21pm AEDT - ABC

The partner of missing Hobart cancer specialist, Bob Chappell, says she does not know what has happened to him.

Sue Fraser has spoken about his disappearance for the first time.

Bob Chappell was last seen on board his yacht "Four Winds" on Australia Day, the next morning it was sinking and Mr Chappell has not been seen since.

Ms Fraser has told Saturday AM she is not sure if blood found on the boat was from a nose bleed or something more sinister.

"It's hard to know what to think about that," said Ms Fraser.

"However it was the things that were changed on the boat that I don't believe Bob could possibly have done that made me think other people were involved."

Yachtie case: Police appeal for info on jacket

Posted Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:00pm AEDT - ABC

Tasmanian police say they have made a significant advance in their investigation into the disappearance of Hobart man Bob Chappell.

The 65-year-old cancer specialist was last seen on his yacht on Australia Day and the following morning, police discovered the sinking yacht had been sabotaged.

Police are now seeking information about a red ski jacket found in Marieville Esplanade at Sandy Bay.

Detective Inspector Peter Powell says the jacket is one of a number of recent developments.

"We have some other information in relation to the jacket and we're just hoping that whoever may have seen it [will come forward]," he said.

"We understand that someone may have probably either seen this jacket or moved it and we're really keen to find out who might have done that."

Missing yachtie's family hires private eye

Posted Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:21am AEDT - ABC

Tasmanian Police have criticised the family of missing yachtsman Bob Chappell for hiring a private investigator.

The 65-year-old Hobart radiation specialist was last seen by his partner Sue Fraser, on his yacht two months ago.

Police found the yacht sinking in the River Derwent and believe Mr Chappell was murdered.

Ms Fraser has called in a private investigator to search the yacht but the man in charge of the police investigation, Inspector Peter Powell, does not support the move.

"If she wants to do that we've got no way of stopping her doing that," he said.

"I guess most of the reputable firms would probably take the view that they wouldn't interfere in a police investigation and we'd certainly not want them to interfere and if they came across any evidence we'd expect them to to bring the evidence to us anyway," he said.