Experienced sailor Hubert Notter, of Crookwell, suffered a heart attack and collapsed into the water after shovelling sand from underneath from his 7.3m yacht.

On Saturday August 14 Mr Notter set out from the Hastings River at Port Macquarie and was headed for Nambucca when he decided to stop over at Trial Bay.

But at 6.30am on Sunday Marine Rescue Trial Bay received a call from Mr Notter stating that during the night his anchor mooring had broken and his vessel was beached on Trial Bay.

“We informed Coffs Harbour Water Police of the details and that morning Mr Hubert came up to the base and filled us in with an update,” Marine Rescue Trial Bay commander Beresford Toll said.

“He explained the keel was in at least a metre of sand.”

On Monday an attempt was made to salvage the yacht with the help of local fishing charter boat Sea Urchin.

At 1.40pm Marine Rescue was told Mr Notter had suffered a heart attack and to call the ambulance.

Unfortunately Mr Notter could not be revived despite desperate attempts.

Jervis Bay Cruising Yacht Club commodore Tony Byrnes was devastated by the news.

“Hubert was a very accomplished sailor with a lot of experience. You couldn’t speak more highly of him,” Mr Byrnes said.

“He lived on a property at Crookwell and travelled two hours to Jervis Bay for our club regattas.

“Hubert often sailed up and down the coast on his own and was very competitive in our club races.”

Mr Notter’s yacht was still stranded on Trial Bay on Friday.