MYSTERY still surrounds how a competent and experienced sailor ended up in the water, an inquest heard.

Hugh Carter was a former Commodore of Lymington Town Sailing Club and the long running Solent Circuit races were inaugurated by him.

He was last seen alive on November 6 last year after he had left Keyhaven Yacht Club at 9.44pm.

The 74-year-old's body was found two weeks later on November 22, on the shorelines close to Normandy Lane, Lymington, but his dinghy was found close to Hurst Castle.

Police launched an extensive search to find Mr Carter in the weeks before his body was found.

Winchester Coroner's Court heard how the retired watchmaker lived on his boat, called the Norisle, which was moored close to Hurst Castle.

He would regularly make the journey back from Keyhaven to the yacht on his dinghy.

The court heard that on November 6, he had been in good spirits and had been drinking at Keyhaven Yacht Club.

Earlier that day he had also spoken to director of Echo Pilot, Peter Phillips, who had concerns about his demeanour.

But he described Mr Carter as an excellent seaman, who was perfectly competent in sailing a dinghy.

Mr Phillips said:"I was concerned because he was normally very practical with his hands and competent but he appeared to be clumsy.

"He stumbled to put his foot on the floor and I commented to my wife that he did not appear as co-ordinated as I expected."

Pathologist Dr Foria said there were raised alcohol levels in Mr Carter's blood, which amounted to 2.5 times the drink drive limit. although this may have been less due to fermentation.

Dr Foria concluded that the death was likely to have happened in the two weeks before the body was found, and said the cause of death was a cardiac arrest likely to be from immersion in water.

The secondary cause of death was ischemic heart disease and high alcohol level.

Detective Constable Martin Timmes said that Mr Carter's phone had lost signal 13 minutes after he was recorded leaving Kayhaven Yacht Club, which was likely to be from the phone going into the water.

DC Timmes added: "What we suspect is that he got to his boat and fell and from that point we believe that based on the winds the boat ended up near Hurst Castle."

One theory which was suggested during the hearing that was Mr Carter's dinghy had an engine failure, which may have caused him to go in the water.

Senior coroner Grahame Short recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Short said:"He left the clubhouse and made his way back and at some stage he ended in the water, the reason he entered the water it is not possible for me to say. He was extremely familiar with the journey even in darkness, I think something must have happened to cause him to enter the water.

"There are a number of theories that one might postulate, the most likely one is the engine got into difficulty, he stopped and he might have tried to remedy that and got into difficulty then fell into the water."