Two sailors have arrived back on dry land, more than 24 hours after a major maritime rescue operation was launched off the south coast of NSW.
The pair spent 18 hours adrift after activating a distress beacon from the 19m-long Spirit of Mateship about 1pm on Monday while approximately 150km offshore from Nowra.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Rescued sailors head home after almost a day stranded at sea.
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Their rescue boat, the Police Boat Nemesis, is now heading for Sydney’s marine police headquarters in Balmain with the pair on board.
It was one of several vessels which battled treacherous conditions to save the pair from their stricken vessel.
Rescuers finally reached the pair about 300km off the NSW coast.
Captain Brett, 60, and Lisa were on board the yacht when it hit trouble.
Footage of the rescue, released by NSW Police, shows the stranded sailor literally jump ship from the yacht into the rescue boat.
“One,” a rescuer can be heard saying. “Got one!”
“Two. Two for two,” the rescuers can then be heard saying as the second person was secured.
“It was pretty much quick, run, jump, catch,” Chief Inspector Anthony Brazzill said.
Brett and Lisa are “fatigued” following the ordeal, he said.
“They’re uninjured and very grateful.”
The safe rescue was a relief for Brett’s son, Jordan.
“I’m very thankful he was saved,” he said.
“And I just thank god that he’s well and in good spirits.”
Brett was sailing the vessel to Queensland when the rudder was damaged and the yacht started taking on water.
With the sail stuck, it began drifting quickly.
“When we left here they were 90 nautical miles southeast of Sydney,” Brazzill said.
“When they actually got to that yacht, they were 160 (nautical miles away).”
Three helicopters sent from Nowra, Wollongong and Sydney made contact with the pair on the yacht “but were not able to retrieve them due to fuel considerations”, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.
An RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft and two Navy ships, HMAS Arunta and Canberra, were also involved in the rescue.
They arrived throughout the night and the pair were finally rescued at 7.30am on Tuesday.
“All the people involved showed a great deal of bravery in executing their duties,” an AMSA spokesperson said.
The Spirit of Mateship was a Sydney Hobart regular first raced by wounded Australian Defence Force veterans in 2013.
But it was no match for Monday’s gale force winds and 6m swells.
When asked if braving the swells was a good idea, Brazzill said: “If you are extremely experienced and have the right safety equipment, but would I go? Probably not.”