Three men have been rescued from a yacht that blew into the Bass Strait in the middle of the night when it was overpowered by wild weather, sending it crashing into a container ship in what police have called a “major catastrophe”.
The men, aged in their 70s and 60s, were stranded aboard the 10-metre yacht for almost five hours after they called for help when the yacht began taking on water about 10.15pm.
The yacht got caught in big swells and strong winds about .75 nautical miles (1.4 kilometres) off St Andrews surf beach, leading the skipper to be unable to steer the yacht and it being blown out to Bass Strait – the channel between Victoria and Tasmania.
The conditions were so rough police were unable to winch the men from the yacht by helicopter.
The yacht ended up crashing into a carrier ship just after 1.30am with the men onboard.
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Water police then managed to approach the yacht and collect the men just before 3am, with the rescue caught on vision from the helicopter.
Water Police Sergeant Fiona Robinson said “it was a pretty hairy rescue”, with the men having ended up in “a very treacherous part of the ocean”.
Robinson described the scenario as a “major catastrophe”, saying the men were very lucky to be alive and advising that they buy lottery tickets.
She said the boat had been pushed almost 30km off course by the wild weather.
The men were all taken to the Queenscliff marina before two were taken to Geelong University Public Hospital in a stable condition.
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