A Kiwi sailor has spoken of his relief to be rescued after the yacht he was crewing hit a whale and sank over the weekend.
Four sailors — two Australians, a New Zealander and a French national — were rescued from Australian-flagged vessel Tai Tam on Sunday after it struck a whale and began sinking 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island.
The crew were stranded in a life raft for 17 hours before being picked up, with rescuers praising their quick emergency beacon activation.
Terry Hetherington, from Wānaka, was flying home to Otago after the sailing trip to New Zealand was cut short.
Kiwi sailor describes 17-hour ordeal after whale sinks yacht in Pacific - Watch on TVNZ+
Hetherington told 1News he heard a "very, very loud bang" as the yacht hit the giant mammal.
"I jumped up, I grabbed the wheel, tried to turn the wheel. There was no movement."
He said a pod of what appeared to be four or five sperm whales were nearby but "I didn't see anything of the whale that was hit".
The group were trying to repair the yacht, and bailing out water, as mayday calls went out and their locator beacons were triggered.
The NZ Defence Force flew overhead and guided a container ship to the four, then in a life raft.
"It was a massive relief, stepping on board the container ship," Hetherington said.
The weather was calm by that time but "if it had happened 24 hours beforehand, the outcome could be significantly different", he said.
"I'm pretty tired. It's been a pretty hectic week, really."
'Catastrophic damage'
Earlier today, keen Australian sailors Jeremy and Jemma Cooper told Breakfast how their sailing trip to New Zealand turned into a fight for survival.
"We sailed our yacht across to New Zealand around Easter and put it in the Bay of Islands marina, and then we sailed it up to Fiji early in July, and we had three months cruising around the Fijian Islands," Jeremy explained from their home in Melbourne.
"We were really on our way to put it back into Opua. We were about halfway back, and then just out of the blue a massive collision with a whale."
Sailors Jeremy and Jemma Cooper recounted their ordeal to Breakfast after their yacht struck a whale and began to sink over the weekend. (Source: Breakfast)
Jemma said Jeremy was having a rest down in the starboard berth when she heard "this huge hit".
"I was on the helm, it was a beautiful day. The sea state was settling down, and [we were] knocked sideways. Everyone in the cockpit, the two other crew as well, were just knocked sideways, and there was just this wrenching sound, and then no control whatsoever at the helm, completely locked off," Jemma said.
The couple said they were convinced it was a pod of "enormous" sperm whales which caused the "catastrophic damage to the boat".
"We sort of spent the first half an hour just assessing the damage, trying to get the boat under control. We had two other crew: one New Zealander, a guy called Terry Hetherington, who's on his way back today, and a French guy, Martin Jaffray, but between the four of us we got the boat under control and assessed the damage," Jeremy said.
"Our crew members, Martin and Terry, who are fantastic, you know, assessing damage, trying to stem flow, getting pumps going and just sort of buying as much time so we could make some decisions," Jemma said.
"But yes, we're very lucky," she said.
Jeremy said it was "pretty obvious the whole situation was unrecoverable", and triggered the EPERBS.
"Within half an hour we were talking to New Zealand Rescue Services," he said.
He added: "We wanted to keep the boat afloat for as long as possible to put off the time we had to get in the life raft."
A dream voyage quickly turned into a fight for survival. (Source: 1News)
The crew were then guided by a New Zealand Air Force aircraft that stayed overhead for hours.
The next morning, the aircraft helped direct a cargo ship to the sailors' location, rescuing them from their life raft and bringing them safely aboard.
The couple thanked the rescue crews, saying they "wouldn't be sitting here" if it wasn't for the fast-acting Kiwi teams.
"The whole thing was superbly executed, and so again, just we're super thankful to to New Zealand for making it all happen," Jeremy said.
"We're very thankful to New Zealand for the fact that we're able to be back here."
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including Opportunity's challenge to National, and a big milestone for the world's tallest bridge. (Source: 1News)
SHARE ME