Two people have been rescued from a yacht sailing off the coast of Whakātane after they sent a mayday call last night.

A crew on an Air Force Orion were unable to locate the 9m yacht last night, but two Coastguard vessels and the Trustpower Rescue Helicopter found it this morning.

That was thanks to a resident who spotted the yacht in Omaio Bay, after hearing reports it was missing on a local radio station.

Rescue Coordination Centre manager Mike Hill said information was passed the rescue team, which found the pair safe and well.

They said they pair had had trouble anchoring the yacht.

Hill said more details about the location and the nature of the distress was not initially clear.

"It would have been useful [if] we'd got additional information and more details of the exact location, we could have dealt with things faster than what we did," he said.