Spirit of Mateship: Update in rescue of stranded sailors near Nowra

Emergency services have made contact but remain unable to rescue two sailors who spent the night stranded at sea after a mechanical issue caused their racing yacht to take on water.

There were two people on-board the 19-metre Spirit of Mateship off the coast when the it began taking on water on Monday afternoon.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authorityreceived an emergency alert from the Spirit of Mateship at 12.40pm, with NSW Police confirming a distress beacon was received about 150km offshore from Nowra.

A rescue helicopter flew to the yacht on Monday night but it’s understood it was unable to take on the passengers.

A NSW Police force vessel was able to reach the yacht and make contact with the sailors about 240km southeast of Sydney as of Tuesday morning, but extreme weather conditions has left the crew unable to rescue the sailors.

Conditions in the region have been treacherous.

Brutal winds knocked out power and phone lines across Tasmania and Victoria overnight and into Monday, while the area of the New South Wales coast where the yacht has gotten into trouble is subject to wind warnings.

Nowra is the firing line of wind warnings for the NSW south coast, which experienced 60 to 70km/h breezes with 100km/h gusts on Monday.

The Spirit of Mateship yacht has taken part in a number of Sydney to Hobart races since 2013.