Exhausted French yachties plucked to safety

A French father and daughter have lost their home but kept their lives after being plucked from the sea and their yacht 90km off the Taranaki coast yesterday.

Daniel Le Meur, 54, and Morgane Le Meur, 19, were on their way to New Zealand from Noumea, where Mr Le Meur is a teacher, for a holiday before the stormy conditions and damage to their yacht forced them to radio for help, the Taranaki Daily News reported.

The National Rescue Co-ordination Centre organised the TET Rescue Helicopter to fly out for the pair.

When it reached them, they had to leap into the sea and on to a life raft before being winched to safety.

"I'm very, very tired and I lost my home. It's all my life," Mr Le Meur told the Daily News.

"We have nothing," Miss Le Meur said.

Their 43-foot sloop, Xiphos, is still out at sea somewhere after Coastguard Taranaki was forced to abandon a retrieval effort because bad weather would have made it too dangerous for crew.

Coastguard Taranaki media liaison officer Trevor Wood said the return journey would have taken 14 hours and conditions were expected to worsen.

"By the time we would have got there, there would have been winds of least 50 knots, a swell of at least 4m, and very poor visibility."

The yacht's engine broke down four days ago and then the main sail was shredded by wind.

Mr Le Meur and his daughter are staying with one of their rescuers.

The yacht was insured.

- NZPA