Ona Unwin: Husband refuses to give up hope for missing millionaire yachtswoman

Carol Unwin, 61, said he would refuse to accept she had died until there was evidence to the contrary.

"Until they provide proof – as far as I'm concerned – she's still with us,” he said.

"I understand wreckage has been found but I'm still hopeful."

Rescue crews have admitted the chances of finding Mrs Unwin alive are slim after the wreckage of her £32,000 vessel, Seagair, was discovered yesterday afternoon near Sennen Cove, west Cornwall, three days after she was last seen.

Mr Unwin has denied that his wife was an inexperienced sailor, though fears had been raised locally that the 65-year-old – who is also known by her middle name, Mary – may have ignored warnings about her own sailing capabilities, as well as dismissing weather forecasts which predicted difficult sailing conditions.

Crews were expected to resume the search for her from around 7.30am.

A Falmouth Coastguard spokesman said: "It is approaching 24 hours since the wreckage of the vessel, believed to be the Seagair, was first discovered. For someone to have survived overnight would be something close to a miracle.

"Mrs Unwin is still a missing person."

The couple purchased the 31-ft blue and white vessel last Thursday and Mrs Unwin had decided to sail it from the ship brokers on the south coast of Cornwall, around the tip of the county and along the Atlantic coast to their home in north Devon.

She was the sole person on-board when she left Mousehole on Saturday evening. She had been due to arrive at Bideford on Sunday night but relatives became anxious when she failed to show up.

Yesterday, coastguards and the police confirmed the wreckage of a vessel found near Sennen was the Seagair.

Jerry Hobkirk, owner of Falmouth Yacht Brokers, said he would not have let Mrs Unwin sail had he known she would have ignored his pleas not to set off until the weather had subsided.

He also said that she had been advised to embark on a sailing refresher course before taking to the water – something the missing woman also appears to have ignored.

Mr Hobkirk said the 130-mile journey from Mousehole to Bideford would have tested even experienced sailors, let alone in difficult conditions.

"She seemed totally determined to take the yacht as quickly as possible," he said. "She told us she had a "navy ticket", which she said was some sort of qualification, but it didn't mean anything to us.

"We urged them to go and get some proper sailing qualifications at a local yacht school and assumed she would do so over the next few months. The next thing we heard, she had taken the yacht and set off."

Mr Hobkirk said he would not have allowed her to take the vessel had he known she was going to make the journey alone, and in foul weather.

"You don't buy a yacht on Friday and then try to sail it around Land's End on your own on Saturday,' he added. 'That route is particularly treacherous. I've been sailing for 30 years and I wouldn't just attempt it without a crew and proper planning.

"I believe Mrs Unwin did go down to a sail school and had a chat with them on Friday, but I don't think she completed much training.

"From what I gather they also warned her strongly against trying to sail home – especially given the weather we were expecting at the weekend.

"I don't even know how much safety equipment there was on the boat – it could be that she left without even taking wet weather gear."

Mrs Unwin is known to have made it to Mousehole, about 25 miles along from Falmouth on the South Cornwall coast.

She was last seen setting off from the fishing port on Saturday. The wreckage was found a little farther along the coast toward Land's End.

He added: "I was amazed when I found out that she had set sail. If I had known, we would have stopped her.

"There were strong winds and rough seas on a piece of coast that has very few escape routes. If you get into difficulties there aren't very many ports to play your 'get out of jail' card with."

Helicopter crews from RNAS Culdrose were also called to help with the search and rescue mission.

Mr Unwin insisted that his wife was an experienced sailor.

'She's Royal Navy trained. She's worked on tall ships training boats,' he said.

'She's sailed to the Channel Islands and to France and I believe to the Mediterranean. Before she embarked on this trip she had an expert sail with her just to brush up on what she knew.

'He and she were confident about the whole exercise.'

The couple had divorced around a year ago before remarrying on October 5.

They had previously lived in a nine-bedroomed home in Tewkesbury, Glos, where Mrs Unwin was an active member of the Conservative Party, standing for election as a Tory councillor for the Longdon ward in local elections in May 2003.