Mon 14 Oct 2019

The New Zealand Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre received a distress call from the occupants of the 47-foot yacht floundering in choppy seas, about 20km north of Cape Brett, about 1pm on. 

Communication from the four sailors said they were abandoning their vessel, having lost their liferaft in the 5 to 6m swells and 40- to 50-knot gusts.

The Orion located the four people in the water around 2.47pm and dropped a raft, before the Westpac Rescue Helicopter winched them up, but one of the people died.

One sailor was in a critical condition while two others were moderate.