A YACHTSMAN who never returned from a sailing trip may have drowned as he tried to untangle a rope around his boat's propeller blades, an inquest heard.

David Moore, 43, had left Watchet Marina on his yacht, Egoist, on June 1, 2019, to go sailing.

Avon and Somerset Police launched an investigation to find Mr Moore when his boat was found washed up on Berrow Beach, Burnham-on-Sea, two days later.

The Watchet man's body was found by police on the opposite side of the Bristol Channel in Dunraven Bay on June 16, 2019.

At an inquest on Wednesday (January 15) senior coroner Tony Williams read a statement from Anthony Hawthorn who said he saw Mr Moore 'staggering' back to his boat on June 1, 2019 and believed he had been drinking.

Mr Hawthorn, whose had a boat moored at Watchet Marina, continued working on his boat and was talking to a friend at the marina at around 5pm when he heard a 'banging' noise.

He then saw Mr Moore's boat had climbed onto a fishing boat and its bow was 'in the air.'

Mr Moore reversed his boat off the fishing boat and headed in the direction of Blue Anchor.

When he returned a few hours later, Mr Hawthorn said he was 'struggling' against the tide and anchored his boat about 400 yards away from the marina.

Mr Hawthorn said he looked for Mr Moore's boat the next day and saw a boat heading towards Hinkley Point but he couldn't be sure that it was Mr Moore's.

The inquest heard statements from boat owners and residents in the town which stated that Mr Moore had a "drinking problem" and was often seen staggering around drunk.

The inquest heard Mr Moore sent an email to his friend, Sonia Smith, at 9.23am on June 2 which said, 'sinking but still alive' along with an image showing a small amount of water inside his boat.

Ms Smith replied to the email later that day and said: 'Have you sunk? I have tried phoning you but no answer' but sadly Mr Moore did not respond.

John Fairman, who previously worked on Mr Moore's boat, said in a statement that there was a leak on Mr Moore's boat before he set off and he had offered to repair it but he 'drove off' before giving him any money to complete the work.

PC Donna Penwell, who attended the scene, said there were no signs of life on Mr Moore's when it washed up on Berrow Beach, although his clothes were on the deck.

In a statement read at the inquest Sam Wilson from Burnham Coastguard provided the theory that due to the presence of Mr Moore's clothes on the deck, he had entered the water to free the rope wrapped around the propeller.

PC Penwell said: "Wilson advised that as there was a set of trousers on the deck of the boat, it looked like Moore had possibly undressed to enter the water to most likely free the rope tangled in the propeller."

The boat was later moved to Burnham-on-Sea Sailing Club where member Eric Talkalton discovered that the boat's anchor line was still attached but the anchor was not found to be onboard.

There was also a piece of rope hanging down by the anchor from the side of the boat which had been cut, but Mr Talkalton said it is likely that it was cut by the Coastguard.

The inquest also heard a statement from construction worker Andrew McNeil who said Mr Moore was only wearing a black lifejacket when his body was found 15 days after he disappeared and he had sustained multiple injuries

A post mortem report from Dr Leadbeater, a home office pathologist, revealed Mr Moore's cause of death could not be given but an examination showed that his injuries were 'not out of keeping with death by immersion.'

After assessing the evidence and statements, Mr Williams suggested Mr Moore may have taken off his clothes and entered the water to untangle a rope around the propeller blades but sadly he ended up drowning.

Mr Williams recorded Mr Moore's cause of death as drowning and a conclusion of an accidental death.

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