A damaged international yacht with an exhausted skipper and incapacitated crew has been brought safely to land following a complex 10-hour overnight rescue operation by Coastguard in Northland.
The yacht suffered a major mechanical failure more than 74km north of North Cape, severely damaging its steering system.
A temporary jury-rigged replacement also failed, leaving the vessel effectively inoperable in open water.
With crew members suffering severe seasickness and the skipper fatigued, he made the call to request urgent assistance.
The Coastguard National Operations Centre and Coastguard Houhora undertook extensive planning and risk assessment before deploying rescue vessel Houhora Rescue just before 6.30pm on Wednesday.
The operation required a special exemption from Maritime NZ to operate at that distance offshore.
Two Coastguard crew members were transferred aboard the yacht to take the helm, with Houhora Rescue escorting the vessel back through open water to Houhora.
The volunteer crew travelled more than 185km in total, spending 10.3 hours at sea.
Coastguard Houhora skipper Greg Gemmell said the distance made the mission particularly demanding.
"Operating more than 40 nautical miles off the coast presents significant challenges, especially with a fatigued skipper and unwell crew," he said.
"The success of this mission was down to the intense planning undertaken by CNOC and our unit before we even left the wharf. Putting our own crew aboard to helm allowed us to manage the risk safely and escort them home."
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