Sounds like a fantastic effort but it doesn't seem quite fair that the "other air crew and rescue swimmer" are just glossed over as he and they presumably faced exactly the same conditions to rescue the remaining two persons.
Wonder how they knew the yacht was doing nine knots (maybe the helicopter). If so it seems fantastic almost to the to point of unbelievable that he could grab a towed line without ripping the skin/gloves off his hands or his arms out of their sockets with the drag of all his gear. I suppose it wouldn't have been a constant nine knots and he might have timed the grab to coincide with a non surfing backwash moment.
Very impressive effort nevertheless even if the author did exaggerate a bit.
