FIVE people were last night feared drowned after their speedboat

capsized. One man was rescued, and yesterday he spoke of his ordeal.

He revealed the craft had only one lifejacket, a faulty battery, and

flares which did not work. An angler had heard the friends' cries for

help in the dark.

Mr Richard Shenouda, 19, from Llandudno, found after two hours in the

sea, set off with four young men and a woman on a fishing trip on

Tuesday night in his father's 17ft boat.

Hopes were fading for his friends. The air and sea search off the

north Wales coast was scaled down with little hope left of finding them

alive.

A police spokesman said: ''It is becoming increasingly likely that we

are looking for bodies rather than survivors. Our thoughts are with the

families at this time.''

The five have been named as Tracy Hughes, 28; Barry Palin, 20;

Christian Mills, 22 and his brother Justin, 19, all from Llandudno; and

Alex Yates, 19, from Rhos-on-Sea nearby.

Mr Shenouda said they had left on the fishing expedition at about

8.30pm. ''We lost our anchor which caused the boat to drift out from the

shore.

''The sea got a bit rough and the boat capsized leaving all six of us

to jump out of the boat.

''I went ashore to try and get the rescue services. I didn't make it

to shore, I was picked up by a rescue boat just off the pier.''

He said the speedboat capsized at about 10.15pm and it was almost two

hours before he was plucked from the sea.

''There was one lifejacket on board. I have no idea if it was used,''

he said. ''We couldn't start the engine due to a faulty battery. We had

flares on board but none of them worked. I think it was because they

were damp.''

When they set out the sea was quite calm but the waves became rougher

as they drifted.

''We had dropped the anchor and as we pulled the anchor up the rope

snapped. We made several attempts to shout for help when we were

actually drifting outwards but we weren't heard. We were drifting for

about half an hour.

''We weren't worried at first because we had the flares but when they

didn't work there was a bit of panic.''

He said of his swim: ''It was rough and it took me two hours to get

from where I was to the end of the pier, about a mile.''

The mother of Alex Yates paid tribute on behalf of all the families to

the efforts of the rescue services.

The speedboat was found about two miles offshore,

The search involved Coastguard, lifeboats, RAF helicopters from three

bases and police.

Angler Reg Davies, from Kirkby, near Liverpool, told how he heard

cries of distress as he fished off the end of the pier at Llandudno.

He said: ''I thought they were mucking about. I couldn't see them --

it was pitch black -- but I shouted to them to shut up.

''One of them shouted back: 'We aren't messing about -- we are all

bloody drowning'.''

He said the screaming went on for an hour before fading away as the

youngsters were washed out to sea.

''It was horrible. You could feel what was happening to them,'' he

said.

Another angler, who was with Mr Davies, had gone to raise the alarm.

A Holyhead coastguard spokesman said the ski-boat involved in the

incident was definitely overcrowded with six people aboard and should

not have been used at night.

''Personally, I would say no more than two people should have been in

the boat, four in calm weather, but I certainly wouldn't go out at night

in it at all. It is not that sort of boat.

''It is not a suitable boat for angling from at all and is designed

for motoring up and down the coast and then only in daylight and in

decent weather.''

Divisional lifeboat inspector George Rawlinson said: ''I can't stress

enough how important it is that anyone who goes to sea should carry

basic survival equipment, flares, lifejackets and, if possible, a VHF

radio.

''They should have one life-jacket each and you can buy a marine band

radio for less than #200.''

He said the party had been right to let people know how long they

would be out so someone was able to raise the alarm when they were

overdue.

''They were absolutely right to carry flares and try to use them. I

don't know why they didn't work, they may have got wet. With

life-jackets they would have stayed afloat much longer.

''Richard did well to swim for two hours but he was young, strong and

the sea temperature was in his favour at 14C.''

Divers were preparing to go into the sea at Llandudno after the tide

turned to search for bodies.