Watch heart-stopping moment couple cling for life to side of yacht after 24 hours being battered by 20ft waves

THIS is the hair-raising moment two sailors are rescued from their yacht after powerful 20ft waves left them stranded at sea.

Footage from Monday shows the Spirit of Mateship endure a tough voyage off the New South Wales (NSW) South Coast in Australia.

NSW Police

The wind gusts were so powerful that the boat started to take on water[/caption]

NSW Police

The Spirit of Mateship dealt with choppy 20ft waves overnight on Monday[/caption]

Rescuers worked tirelessly on a 12-hour mission to get the pair to safetyNSW Police

The two were aboard the 62ft yacht tackling choppy 20ft waves travelling at a whopping 56mph.

The man, 60, and woman, 48, are jolted from side to side, desperately clinging onto the side of the boat before emergency teams were called.

The vessel takes on water but doesn’t sink.

The worried pair sounded a distress signal at around 1pm on September 2 but it took rescuers hours to find the small yacht.

Powerful wind gusts over 31mph were recorded in the NSW region the following morning, according to News.com.au.

The Spirit of Mateship was thrusted almost 200 miles away from where the pals started – drifting towards New Zealand.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority located the vessel over 100 miles east of the city of Nowra, NSW.

The friends were rescued by The Australian Defence Force ship HMAS Canberra at around 7.30am on Tuesday, according to the ABC.

The NSW Water Police vessel Nemesis also arrived to help the desperate pair two hours later.

But the first attempt to rescue the yacht enthusiasts failed, with three helicopters flying to them on Monday night unable to help.

The weather was so bad that crew couldn’t help the boat that was 90 nautical miles south-east of Sydney when police headed out to rescue the pair.

By the time they arrived, the vessel was already 160 nautical miles away.

NSW Police Chief Inspector Anthony Brazzill said the two sailors were forced to jump onto a rescue boat amid “terrible” conditions.

He said: “It’s a matter of just basically timing it. Get the person to jump, as they’re coming in, get them to jump and catch, doing one at a time, obviously making sure that people have the life jackets on”.

Fortunately, the duo were recovered without any injuries.

Ben Flight, duty manager at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Response Center told local outlets of their “terrible night at sea”.

“They weren’t injured, but the vessel had suffered a mechanical issue of some kind, and they couldn’t steer, and couldn’t make their own way through the water.

“They were drifting, and they were taking on water as well. So, they were in quite a serious situation.”

He added: “I don’t imagine they would have got any rest overnight, so I imagine they’d be quite tired and very relieved to be rescued.

The manager also said the sailors “were at the mercy of the elements. They would have been moving around quite uncomfortably”.

“It would have been particularly windy, noisy, probably quite wet as well.”

The Spirit of Mateship, which has competed in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race many times, was damaged beyond repair and has since been abandoned.

Two Royal Australian Navy ships were also called on to help the sailors who were stuck facing the fierce weather conditions overnight.

The problems arose as the yacht “sustained a mechanical issue and was taking on water”, according to the police.

The sailors are expected to arrive back in Sydney tonight following an arduous 12-hour voyage home.

ABC News

The Spirit of Mateship, a famed yacht racer, has since been damaged beyond repair[/caption]

NSW Police

The boat swaying vigorously from side to side[/caption]