A catamaran skipper has revealed the moment he thought his crewmate was going to die in front of him.

Graeme Delaveau was sailing back to Auckland on Superbird to Cruz when his 28-year-old crewmate began experiencing ‘very bad pains' to the heart. Moments later, Graeme's crewmate was taken to hospital in a ‘serious' condition.

Skipper Graeme Delaveau was sailing to Auckland on his yellow catamaran ‘Superbird to Cruz' when his crewmate began suffering heart pains. Photo: Zoe Hunter.

'I've had them before,” says the 55-year-old skipper. 'It's like electric shocks to the heart. But this was way worse.

'It was pretty serious. He was cringing in pain. I feel like he could have died right in front of me.”

After viewing several weather forecasts, Graeme thought it would be ideal weather to sail to the Mercury Islands on Saturday, rest up and continue on to Whitford in Auckland on Sunday.

'We were sailing along nicely under jib alone, despite the heavy rain and very poor visibility, aiming to average five knots,” he explains.

'When we were north of Waihi, my crewmate started getting very bad pains to the heart that got increasingly more intense.”

He decided to make a course for Whangamata in ‘boisterous east, south-east conditions'.

'As the minutes ticked by, his condition got worse with constant stabbing pain and he was totally debilitated,” says Graeme, who put out a mayday call to Waihi and Whangamata Coastguards at about 4.30pm.

'The conditions were so difficult that I had to set off three parachute flares to guide coastguard in as our drift rate put us way beyond the GPS coordinates I had given.”

The crewmate was checked on board by a Whangamata Coastguard team member, before a medic from Waihi Coastguard arrived to assess the crewman.

He was taken to shore by Waihi Coastguard before being taken by St John Ambulance to Tauranga Hospital.

'We pulled him along to the foredeck and when the boats were close to level – not that easy with the heavy swell and wind – Tim from the Waihi boat dragged him aboard and off they went,” adds Graeme.

The yellow catamaran – which capsized during the annual Auckland to Tauranga yacht race earlier this month – was towed to shore in Whangamata, as Graeme wasn't familiar with the harbour entrance in the rough weather conditions.

'I set up a strong bridle from the bows and had a nice few surfs under tow,” he adds.

'Once inside, I started the motor and followed coastguard through the well-marked channel to a berth in the marina.”

Graeme says his crewmate is now back home in Auckland after being picked up from hospital by his parents.

'He's fine thanks to the swift action of the Waihi and Whangamata Coastguard,” admits Graeme. 'A very big thank you from Superbird to Cruz.”