The yacht belonging to two sailors who were rescued off the NSW coast on Saturday has washed ashore at Austinmer in the state's Illawarra region.
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The experienced sailors got into trouble in the water at around 1am on Saturday when their yacht capsized 15 nautical miles off the coast of Wollongong.
A search began about 1pm after the yacht was reported missing and the HMAS Brisbane responded, reaching the search area about an hour later.
The sailors have since been reuinited with family, after spending 15 hours clinging to their capsized yacht amid heavy winds and large swells.
Meantime, the white yacht was located in the water by Austinmer resident Martin Parmenter after he went for a walk with his neighbour on Sunday morning.
Martin quickly notified NSW Marine Rescue.
"We just saw a yacht that was upturned on the beach, there was a whole lot of equipment washed around as well," he said.
"We got a bit worried because we hadn't watched the news or heard of anything. We thought someone may have been stuck inside.
"After we rang, Marine Rescue turned up 10 minutes later. They took the equipment that we collected off the beach."
Surf Life Saving Illawarra and the NSW Marine Area Command have advised the community to keep away from the yacht, and confirmed it will be retrieved when severe weather conditions ease.
The two sailors, who were located by the private mechant vessel MV Arietta Lily eight miles east of Port Kembla, were taken into the care of medics on HMAS Brisbane after they were rescued.
Despite their 15-hour ordeal in the water, they were assessed as being in good condition.
Martin said he had since got in contact with the boaters and was delighted to hear they were safe.
"I gave them a message and let them know their stuff that washed onto the beach was handed to the police," he said.
"It was good to hear they were safe after they faced such horrendous conditions."
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HMAS Brisbane deployed a rigid inflatable boat to collect the two people who were clinging to the hull of the vessel.
At the time, there was a two-metre swell and winds were reaching 56 km/h.
HMAS Brisbane took the sailors back to Sydney, where they were reunited with loved ones about 7pm.
HMAS Brisbane's commanding officer, Commander Kingsley Scarce, said the ship's crew were happy to help out fellow mariners.
"I want to particularly acknowledge the bravery of the sea boat crew who conducted the rescue in appalling sea conditions," Commander Scarce said.