2 rescued from capsized yacht in heavy seas off Australia

An Irishman and French woman have been rescued off Australia's southeastern coast after their yacht's rudder broke in raging seas between Australia and New Zealand in the midst of the couple's around the globe voyage.

Nick Dwyer and Barbara Heftman say they thought they would not survive the ordeal.

Dwyer says their yacht's rudder broke on Saturday on route from New Zealand to Sydney.

Heavy seas capsized the yacht several times before he activated an emergency beacon on Tuesday.

They were delivered by a police boat to Sydney Harbor Wednesday night after abandoning their 12-meter (40-foot) sailing boat in 6-meter (20-foot) seas more than 370 kilometers (230 miles) east of Sydney.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)