The crew of the yacht, Boundless, which was damaged in heavy seas while travelling between Brisbane and Auckland, has been airlifted to Whangarei.
The two men and one woman were not injured and were cleared by customs on landing.
The ship's captain said he had no comment for media.
Northland Rescue Services Trust Helicopter pilot Peter Turnbull said the trio planned to spend the night in Whangarei and would likely head to Auckland shortly.
"We'll get them down to a hotel for a warm shower."
A Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion first made contact with the crew yesterday, about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) north-east of New Zealand, after they activated a distress beacon.
With the yacht's long-range HF radio broken, the plane was forced to circle above to enable use of short-range VHF devices.
The yacht's sail had been damaged after they encountered bad weather and crew members were worried they could not complete the journey on their remaining stores of diesel.
However, they pushed on last night and the Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) sought to keep in touch via other ships in the area.
By 12.30pm today the yacht had made it to within 150 nautical miles (278km), but the crew reactivated the beacon telling rescuers they were concerned about their damaged communications gear and dwindling fuel supplies.
The helicopter picked them up at 4.56pm, landing in Whangarei two hours later.
RCCNZ spokesman Ross Henderson said the yacht was left floating at sea. A navigational alert was sent to warn other ships of its location, and it would be up to the owners to launch a salvage mission
