The navy came to the rescue of five people whose yacht sank near Great Barrier Island this morning.
An emergency call was made from Stager about 5.45am when the 11-metre launch started taking on water by Cape Colville during stormy conditions.
The group's mayday call was answered by Maritime Operations, which dispatched police, the HMNZS Canterbury, two Coastguard vessels and Westpac Rescue Helicopter, Sergeant Graham Jex said.
The navy helicopter plucked two people from the water when it arrived at the scene.
Coastguard then transferred the remaining three on to its boat before the boat completely sank, Mr Jex said.
The Coastguard and the naval helicopter arrived within minutes of each other, the Coastguard said.
All five people were being brought back to Auckland onboard the HMNZS Canterbury and were undergoing medical checks on the boat.
Northern region Coastguard duty officer Mark Leevers said everybody was wearing lifejackets.
The skipper did all the right things, he said.
