P&O cruise ship Pacific Sun.

FOUR sailors whose yacht struck a reef between Australia and Noumea have told of their relief at seeing rescuers just moments after they were forced to abandon ship.

New Zealanders Mark Iaconetti and Robert Cole, co-owners of the 14m cutter-rigged sloop Sambaluka, said they were forced to abandon their yacht literally as the Brisbane-bound cruise ship P&O Pacific Sun came into view.

"It was a mixed feeling at the time. We were so relieved but sorry that we'd lost our beautiful boat," Mr Iaconetti said.

New Caledonian Maud Mossetti and Frenchman Brice Paul Mignot were also hitching a ride to Australia onboard the $300,000 yacht when it struck the Coral Sea reef 540 nautical miles off Mackay early on Friday morning.

The four arrived in Brisbane along with their rescuers about 5.30am (AEST) on Sunday.

Mr Iaconetti, 41, said he had had no warning the reef was in their path as they sailed in idyllic conditions.

"It was beautiful sailing, we'd checked the charts carefully," he said.

"Nothing indicated there was a reef there on the charts. It was ideal conditions. There were 12-15 knot winds.

"All of a sudden, our depth gauge started reading 120m, 40m, 30m, 10m, 6m then ... `boom' then another boom and another boom and then it was obvious, we'd hit a reef."

Mr Iaconetti said for the next several hours the crew kept the engine running as they tried to keep the yacht afloat and send out mayday distress calls.

"The ship held out for quite a long time, which was good, because we were near a reef and that's where sharks like to be," he said.

A New Caledonian military aircraft dropped a 15-man life raft. However, it could not be reached in the conditions, which had turned treacherous.

Pacific Sun captain Justin Lawes said he received notification of a distress signal on their satellite communications system about 3am (AEST) on Friday and turned back to search for the stricken yacht.

"It took about six hours to get there, the conditions were not perfect so it made the rescue operation quite demanding," he said.

Captain Lawes said the four yachtsmen were extremely lucky that they had called for help when they did.

"We were about 120 nautical miles away," he said.

"There is not a lot of shipping in that area, if it happened a couple of hours later I'm not sure what assistance, if any, would have been in that area."

Captain Lawes said while the 1,900 passengers onboard had been remarkably upbeat about participating in the rescue there had been some initial alarm.

"There was a naval officer on deck who noticed that we had turned around and speeded up," Captain Lawes said.

"He alerted one of our security staff to watch the bridge to make sure we were ok. He thought we may have been taken over by pirates."

As a gesture of goodwill, Pacific Sun passengers and staff donated $3,000 to Mr Iaconetti and Mr Cole for future insurance premiums on any new yacht.