An 8.8m yacht abandoned off Mayor Island in the early hours of this morning after the steering failed, has washed ashore at Waihi Beach, says regional Harbourmaster Peter Buell.

Steering on 8.8m wooden hulled yacht failed about 70km north of Tauranga last night.

Windsong washed up on Waihi Beach this afternoon after being abandoned at sea. Photos: Elaine Fisher.

After an electrical failure on board, the boat's emergency locator beacon was activated and the sole crewman Paul Christenson was rescued by Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard's TECT Rescue and brought to shore about 6am. Read more about the rescue here.

The yacht was abandoned with the engine running, about 11km east of South East Bay.

'It was sort of heading southwest, but it's not a very big engine,” says coastguard operations manager Simon Barker.

Finding the boat beached has saved regional council staff the requirement to begin a formal search, once the weather had calmed down.

Coastguard stations at Waihi Beach and on the Coromandel were alerted to keep an eye out for the yacht this morning, says regional harbor master Peter Buell. Matakana Island and Mayor Island residents were also alerted.

There is about 200 litres of diesel on board, stored in ten 20 litre containers. The containers have since been removed from the boat.

'There was next to nothing in the tank. Paul said he was running on fumes,” says Peter.

Paul was heading for Dunedin and hoping to get around East Cape ahead of the weather when Windsong started acting up on him.

First it wouldn't steer, then there was a power failure and he lost navigation and interior lights.

Peter says the Windsong departed from Gulf Harbour Marina which meant it was fully insured, and salvage costs will be carried by the insurer, not the ratepayers.