KEY POINTS:
Ten French sailors rescued from a capsized racing trimaran 145km east of Dunedin are back on dry land.
The Wellington-based Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) said three rescue helicopters winched the crew of the Groupama III to safety about 3.30pm, and they had now landed safely in Dunedin at Taieri Airfield.
RCCNZ spokesman Ross Henderson said the sailors were uninjured and all ten were dressed in survival gear when they were picked up from the yacht's hull.
The crew were being checked by ambulance staff and would be processed by customs staff before being released.
The Groupama III was taking part in the Jules Verne Round the World Yacht Race when it overturned.
RCCNZ launched a rescue mission after its equivalent in France called at 1.20pm (NZ time) to report it had picked up a signal from the yacht, 406Mhz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (Epirb).
RCCNZ mission coordinator Keith Allen said the incident highlighted the value of people carrying this variety of Epirb, which had greatly assisted in the rescue.
"Because the 406Mhz variety Epirb is able to be detected by satellite within minutes, it gives rescuers an accurate position very quickly, which greatly speeds up any emergency response," he said.
"The fact that the beacon was also registered with up to date ownership details, meant that rescue agencies knew straight away who was in trouble and were able to make contact with them."
Four helicopters were sent to the area, a fixed wing aircraft also assisted and an Air Force Orion was put on standby to help if required.
While waiting for rescue the sailors were able to don survival gear and sit on the upturned craft.
It was not yet known what caused the yacht to overturn.
Sea conditions at the time were moderate, with a two metre swell and 30 knot southwesterly winds.
Groupama III, a futuristic-looking single-masted trimaran skippered by Frenchman Franck Cammas, left the English Channel on its bid for the Jules Verne Trophy 24 days ago.
The trimaran is 32m long, with a beam of 22.55m.
The record for the round-world race, inspired by Verne's classic Around the World in Eighty Days tale of Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout, is 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and four seconds, held by fellow Frenchman Bruno Peyron in his Orange 2 maxi-catamaran since 2005.
Before his departure, Cammas told the Daily Sail website he had a good team around him.
"Of course there is a little apprehension mixed in with the excitement," he said.
"When you head off into the unknown, there is always a form of stress that accompanies you, but without the unknown there is no adventure.
"And adventure is something we love; it is our passion."
The Groupama III had just passed the half-way point in the circumnavigation, and was heading for Cape Horn after a relatively slow passage across the southern India Ocean.
But yesterday it altered course to pass closer to Stewart Island and escape some of the effects of a severe weather system developing in the Southern Ocean.
"With over 35 knots of breeze and six or seven metre-high waves, the objective above all else is to skirt around this zone of low pressure," watchman and primary helmsmen Franck Proffit said.
"It is safer for the boat," he told London's Telegraph newspaper.
A yachting website, BYMnews, said just before midnight on Sunday the trimaran was benefiting from a steady southwesterly, travelling 1046km a day. The wind was expected to pick up to over 40 knots, and the seas were becoming bigger as water shallowed near the NZ coast.
In a radio broadcast, before the capsize the captain said: "We should remain in manageable seas... the sea and the swell are beginning to become more ordered, but it's the first time we've encountered this type of wave."
"Groupama III handles exceptionally well in these conditions; she doesn't bury into the seas, even though there are some vibratory phenomena in the floats and beams, which are requiring us to be careful".
- NZPA
