A father and son sailing towards the Island were rescued by the Coast Guard this weekend in “near hurricane” conditions.

US media has reported that Australian father and son Reg McGlashan and Jason McGlashan were on board the 43ft sailboat Sedona when they lost all power and had the sails torn off around 150 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The First Coast Guard District in Boston received an emergency call from the vessel early Sunday morning and a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew reached the sailboat in about four hours. When they arrived, the crew were battling 25-foot seas and 60mph winds.

The father and son were safely airlifted off the vessel by helicopter and taken to Cape Cod for medical examination.

The pair had reportedly planned to sail towards the Island before turning towards South Africa and then Australia.