Police give major update on missing round-the-world Brit sailor

Police have issued a major update on a missing British sailor who vanished more than a month ago..

Detectives suspect the James Nunan, 34, had an accident off Gran Canaria, in Spain, after setting sail for a neighbouring island following a night out on land. Investigators said the round-the-world sailor most likely ended up in the sea after falling from the mast of his yacht.

Initial reports pointed to James, from Colchester, last being seen at a kebab shop late on August 18 in the Gran Canariacapital Las Palmas following drinks at a nearby Irish pub. His anguished family, who flew to the island earlier this month and met Civil Guard investigators leading the search for the sailor, later said they had been told of a new sighting early on August 19 when Mr Nunan reported his passport missing at a police station.

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The yacht the bricklayer was planning to travel to Brazil on some five-and-a-half months into his solo sailing trip was recovered around 50 miles off the holiday island, approximately 100 miles from the spot where he had moored it to go ashore in mid-August.

His 18-month-old miniature Jack Russell called Thumbelina was alone on board.
The vessel was towed back to Arguineguin in the south of Gran Canaria and James’ pet dog handed into an animal shelter. Overnight police sources said they were focusing on the theory that the missing Brit, known to friends and family as Jemsie, had suffered an accident at sea and could have fallen from his yacht mast.

They are understood to have reached that conclusion because his life jacket and a harness or chair he used to climb up the pole were missing from his boat. A Civil Guard source, quoted by Spanish press, said: “The main hypothesis is that James could have suffered an accident as he tried to climb up the mast in adverse wind and sea conditions.

“But all lines of investigation are still being pursued and the case is not yet closed.” It emerged earlier this month police had been given permission to track the missing sailor’s phone and other electronic devices. Hospital and bank account checks are understood to have been carried out early on in the police investigation, with officers answering to a local judge as is normal in Spain.

Judicial officials confirmed at the start of the month: “The case of the missing British man has been assigned to Court of Instruction Number Three in Las Palmas. Police requested geolocation through all devices he might be carrying. The judge has granted permission.”

Mr Nunan moored his yacht in a neighbourhood of Las Palmas called Las Isletas shortly before he was seen at Paddy’s Anchor, the Irish pub he spent time at on August 18. He filmed himself on a Facebook Live broadcast walking among a large group of people believed to be migrants at a beach north-west of Las Palmas city centre.

His rucksack is believed to have been stolen outside a kebab shop he visited after leaving Paddy’s Anchor. His half-sister Nikita Goddard, from Lincoln, later said James who was born in the UK but was travelling on an Irish passport, was last seen reporting it as ‘lost or stolen’ at a police station in the Gran Canaria capital around 6.15am on August 19.

He is believed to have been planning on heading to Lanzarote from Gran Canaria to spend some time there before embarking on his Atlantic Ocean crossing to Brazil. Nikita, speaking to the BBC earlier this month, said: “Searching for Jemsie has been emotionally and physically exhausting and draining for the family.”