Weather prevents rescue from damaged yacht

The yacht Janette Gay, as seen from an air force Orion yesterday before being dismasted. Picture / RNZAF

Atrocious weather this morning prevented the rescue of two injured and exhausted New Zealanders in a dismasted yacht, about 780km northeast of the Chatham Islands.

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre NZ today revealed the couple aboard the Janette Gay were in their 40s. The woman had an injured arm, and the man had head, hip and back injuries.

No further information was available about their conditions and their names could not be released.

The 5000-tonne cargo ship Maunakea, which had been diverted to help the pair, had been unable to rescue them today because appalling weather conditions made an attempt too dangerous, RCCNZ said.

Conditions had deteriorated overnight, with the swell now at 8-14m, and strong winds. No improvement was expected in the next day or two.

To carry out a rescue the Maunakea would have needed to pull up very close to the Janette Gay, and haul the couple up a ladder on the side of the vessel, RCCNZ said.

One attempt to do so had nearly damaged the yacht, and the master of the vessel and skipper of the yacht were unwilling to try again in the current weather conditions.

Efforts were under way to find other vessels to go to the aid of the yacht. The closest was New Zealand merchant ship the Southern Taire, which has been diverted to help but was still about 50 hours away.

A life raft which had been dropped from an Air Force Orion to the yacht this morning had since been lost overboard due to the weather conditions.

The life raft contained medical equipment and communication supplies including two distress beacons, and a VHF radio that the yacht crew had been using to communicate.

The Orion would be leaving the area around noon to refuel. The air force was arranging for another aircraft, which would drop more medical and communication supplies, to go to the yacht.

- NZPA