‘Very rough night… will run out of diesel’: Dramatic moment group are lifted to safety from an inflatable boat after abandoning their sinking yacht
- Dramatic footage showed the moment four yacht crew members were rescued
- They were forced to abandon their severely broken ship that failed four days ago
- The crew members sent out a distress signal earlier when they were low on fuel
Dramatic helicopter footage has captured the moment four people were winched to safety from an inflatable boat after they were forced to abandon their sinking yacht.
The crew on board the 14-metre yacht ‘Squander’ sent out a series of distress signals online after being battered by rough seas across the Pacific Ocean.
They had set out on June 9 from New Zealand’s Bay of Islands, but ran into trouble and turned around before their mast rig failed.
After four days in horrific conditions, they sent off a final mayday message online and a distress signal before jumping onto a life raft and hoping to be rescued.
‘Cannot make headway to the west. Compromised jury rig can only sail on starboard tack and this is limited. Options narrowing,’ their last message online read.
‘Will run out of diesel and can only sail to the east. Options commercial tow or initiate distress call. Fourth day battling headwinds.’
Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) began monitoring the boat when it was forced to turn back to New Zealand.
Two Auckland Westpac Rescue helicopters had to make the recovery of the four sailors due to the two-metre waves.
Dramatic footage showed the moment four yacht crew members are rescued after they were forced to abandon their sinking ship that began to fail four days ago. Every day they sent updates on the ship’s progress
Chief paramedic Karl Taylor told the New Zealand Herald it was challenging to rescue the two men and two women in the life raft.
‘It was a little bit challenging just getting them out of the life raft but it certainly helped that they were well prepared,’ he said.
‘They were still fit and able.’
He said the group were happy to be rescued but once on-shore again the reality that they had lost the boat they’d owned since 2012 set in.
The Squander crew had a distress beacon, a HF radio, a VF radio and a satellite phone.
The 14-metre ship initially hit strong headwinds on June 12 and on June 13 their mast rig failed
Squander and it’s crew had been bound for Tonga when it left Opua, in New Zealand’s Far North, on June 9