Two people have been rescued after a terrifying night at sea as six-meter 20-foot waves tossed their stricken yacht nearly 200 miles 322 kilometers off Australia’s eastern coast as they drifted at speed towards New Zealand.Authorities were first alerted to the crew’s crisis around 1pm on Monday, when they deployed a distress beacon, but it was hours before the first rescue helicopters located the vessel.

The 20-meter yacht, the Spirit of Mateship, had lost power and communications and was being hit by winds of up to 90 kilometers an hour 56 mph as well as waves up to six meters high. The helicopter’s crew were able to fly above the yacht, and they could communicate via radio to the yacht, but they were unable to pick them up,” said Ben Flight, duty manager at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Response Center.

Another rescue attempt was later abandoned due to rough seas, forcing the two people  a man, 60, and woman, 48  to spend what Flight described as a “horrible” night at sea.They weren’t injured, but the vessel had suffered a mechanical issue of some kind, and they couldn’t steer, and they couldn’t make their own way through the water, so they were drifting, and they were taking on water as well. So, they were in quite a serious situation,” said Flight. They were sort of just at the mercy of the elements. They would have been moving around quite uncomfortably. It would have been particularly windy, noisy, probably quite wet as well.   (CNN)…[+]