The 1959-built Clair De Lune hit Flat Rock off North Stradbroke Island off the Brisbane coast in Australia. Two men were rescued.

The crew of Clair De Lune have been rescued by the Brisbane Water Police after the classic yacht hit Flat Rock in the early hours of yesterday (4 December 2016).

Officers were called out at around 2.30am local time to reports the vessel was taking on water a couple of kilometres north of North Stradbroke Island.

The yacht’s 70-year-old skipper and 23-year-old crew member deployed a life raft before being rescued.

Speaking to 9 News, Dutch national, Max Keller, who was acting as a deck hand, said: “I woke up on a rock, basically.”

The rescue operation took five hours, and neither of the men were injured as a result of their ordeal.

Clair De Lune after hitting Flat Rock

Clair De Lune after hitting Flat Rock

The skipper of the Clair De Lune is reported to have been sailing the yacht back to Tasmania.

The 25-foot yacht is believed to be the same vessel designed by the English born boat designer, Bert Samuel Woollacott.

Woollacott, who settled in Devonport, New Zealand in the 1920s with his family, was known for building yachts that could be sailed with a minimal crew.

On the Woollacott Association website, Clair De Lune is listed as a Nada design and was launched in 1959.