The Cook Strait claimed another near-victim when a solo yachtsman was pulled to safety following a multi-agency overnight rescue operation. At the centre of it was the 11-metre Boxing Kangaroo, left drifting in deteriorating conditions off the South Island coast with an injured skipper its only person on board.
The trouble began on what had started as a straightforward northbound passage from Wellington on Wednesday 20 May, with two people aboard Boxing Kangaroo. The voyage turned serious when one crew member fell gravely ill, forcing a call for help. Coastguard volunteers launched the Spirit of Wellington at 8:30pm and headed out roughly 7 nautical miles southeast of Cape Palliser to perform a medical evacuation. The round trip was far from brief. Over eight hours, the crew covered 82 nautical miles before returning to port at 4:00am, where Wellington Free Ambulance paramedics took charge of the ill crew member.
With his crewmate safely ashore, the skipper chose to stay with Boxing Kangaroo and complete the passage to Wellington single-handed. The weather refused to cooperate. By Thursday 21 May, conditions had worsened sharply, and that afternoon the skipper, now lost in heavy seas near Baring Head, broadcast a mayday call. Wellington Harbourmaster Grant Nalder confirmed the vessel was in serious difficulty trying to make port, and New Zealand Police activated a Category 1 search-and-rescue operation.
Timing played in the rescuers' favour. The New Zealand Defence Force inshore patrol vessel HMNZS Taupō happened to be conducting sea training nearby when its crew intercepted the maritime radio distress calls at around 4:00pm. The NZDF described conditions aboard HMNZS Taupō as "horrible," with 30- to 40-knot winds driving two-metre swells against the hull. A rescue helicopter joined the operation, sweeping the area with searchlights while naval flares lit the water below, before low fuel eventually forced it to withdraw. Environmental drift had by then pushed Boxing Kangaroo well away from the Wellington coastline, compelling HMNZS Taupō to push further south in pursuit.
The decisive break came from above. A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft entered the search area and, according to the NZDF, located the drifting yacht within minutes. Tide and current had by that point carried Boxing Kangaroo clear of Cook Strait altogether, leaving it adrift 20 nautical miles due east of Cape Campbell.
HMNZS Taupō ran hard for those coordinates at 18 knots. Close to midnight, the ship's sea boat crew launched in a Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat to reach the stricken yacht. The skipper was found cold, wet, and nursing injuries from several falls. He was brought aboard, assessed by a medic, and given a hot meal. With seas too rough to safely secure a towline, Boxing Kangaroo had to be left where it lay. The skipper reached dry land when HMNZS Taupō made port at Napier.
