Man rescued after falling into the water off the coast of Tolaga Bay, near Gisborne

Emergency services have rescued a person who fell overboard from the yacht they were sailing near Tolaga Bay, north of Gisborne on Wednesday evening.

A Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand spokesman said the man was rescued by helicopter in an "okay but hyperthermic" condition.

The temporarily missing man fell overboard from a 10-metre yacht around 28 kilometres east of Tolaga Bay.

Another person was onboard and put out a mayday call to maritime radio about 2.14pm, sparking an emergency services response.

#BREAKING || An Orion aircraft has left #BaseAuckland to help search for a missing person along the East Coast near Gisborne, following a request from the Rescue Coordination Centre NZ. The Orion will search until last light#Force4NZ pic.twitter.com/UC1Ra10ccH

— NZ Defence Force (@NZDefenceForce) March 6, 2019

"Maritime radio requested them to activate their personal locator beacon so we could establish their position," the RCCNZ spokesman said.

"Once that was done and we knew where they were, the [RCCNZ] took coordination ... and fortunately the Hastings helicopter managed to locate the person and rescue them out of the water."

Two fixed-wing aircraft, an Air Force P-3k2 Orion surveillance aircraft, the Gisborne Coastguard and the Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter were deployed.

The rescue helicopter located him in the water and used a rescue swimmer to get him onboard the helicopter.

The Coastguard vessel Gisborne Lion Foundation Rescue was on Thursday escorting the yacht to Gisborne, Maritime NZ Senior Search and Rescue Coordinator Chris Henshaw said.

"Most accidents occur suddenly with no warning. Lifejackets are essential for all recreational activities on the water. It was fortunate the yacht had both a vhf radio and emergency beacons (two) to raise the alert. Without appropriate communications devices and beacons it may have turned out differently," Henshaw said.