Chopper rescues: Men tipped into water after boat capsizes at Kawakawa Bay

Two men were rescued from freezing waters off the Clevedon coast yesterday after their boat capsized.

The quick actions of the two men, aged in their 20s and 30s, in calling for help resulted in them being in the Kawakawa Bay water for a short period.

A spokesman for the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter said the men were still on board the boat when they called for help but by the time the chopper crew arrived, they were clinging to the bow that was still visible above the water.

Video footage of the rescue shows the boat overturned and the men holding on to it as they wait for help.

Yesterday's 5.30pm rescue was one of several for the chopper, which also took a teenage boy to hospital on Monday after he suffered LPG exposure from an unlit hob and a man critically injured after being kicked by a horse at Waiuku.

The spokesman said the two boaties were airlifted back to the Kawakawa Bay wharf and left in the care of St John Ambulance staff.

Another helicopter crew were then sent out to Waiuku to help a man in his 50s kicked by a horse about 5.50pm.

He was flown to Auckland Hospital in a critical condition.

Three women from Onetangi, on Waiheke Island, were also separately transported to Auckland Hospital for treatment after one fell down a set of stairs in the dark and two others suffered medical complaints.