Father and son rescued from lake Taupo

A father and son yacht crew were rescued from Lake Taupo last night after an intended 10-minute sail turned into a five-hour ordeal.

Police said the holidaying pair, aged 49 and 22, were cold but not hurt when they were pulled from their 4.8m Hobie catamaran by the Turangi Coastguard just after 7pm.

They had set out from Motuoapa, 12km from Turangi on the eastern side of Lake Taupo, about 2pm for a short sail and were reported overdue about 4pm.

A rigging failure rendered the catamaran helpless.