Three men were rescued on Saturday on Lake Wanaka after the engine on their jetboat failed and it began to sink.

Constable Greg Nolet, of Wanaka, said the men, all aged in their 50s, were travelling from Wanaka to Glendhu Bay on the jet boat when it suffered a mechanical fault about 2pm.

Intake water the engine was sucking in was not being expelled properly and was going inside the hull of the boat.

The men were 500m from shore at Waterfall Creek when they raised the alarm but they were able to make it to shore a short time later, police said.

''By the time they made it to shore the boat was 90 per cent filled with water,'' Mr Nolet said.

''The fear was they were going to have to swim ... they all got to shore in the nick of time,'' he said.

Wanaka Lakeland Adventures operator Simon Stewart was on the scene within three minutes of the men landing and found them wet but with no injuries.

The boat was recovered and the incident was reported to harbourmaster Marty Black.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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