Sailor spends night stranded in Great Australian Bight

Duncan Murray |

A solo sailor has spent the night battling giant waves and severe winds in the Great Australian Bight after running into trouble hundreds of kilometres from help.

Authorities established radio and visual contact with the sailor by air after picking up an emergency beacon signal shortly before 5pm on Friday.

Two merchant vessels have been diverted to the 6.5-metre sailing yacht’s location about 630 kilometres west of Kangaroo Island in South Australia, and 740km southeast of Esperance in Western Australia.

Winds gusting over 100 kilometres an hour and six-metre waves are expected to make rescue difficult even after the vessels make contact some time on Saturday.

Aerial footage showed the stricken yacht being tossed around by large waves with its sails bundled on the deck.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is coordinating search and rescue efforts for the Queensland-registered vessel.

Two AMSA challenger class rescue aircraft remained overhead overnight and communicated with the sailor via VHF radio.

An RAAF aircraft also arrived at the vessel’s location on Saturday.

AMSA issued an emergency broadcast and diverted a bulk carrier to the area, with the vessel expected to arrive about 11.30am (AEST).

Another bulk carrier is also making its way to the location.

The ship’s masters will need to assess their ability to safely conduct a rescue in extremely rough weather conditions, according to AMSA.

AAP