A large-scale search was launched on Wednesday morning following the discovery of the eight-metre yacht off Samurai Beach, a nudist beach near Nelson Bay.

"There was no person on board. Other objects have been located which suggest that a person may have fallen overboard," Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter CEO Stephen Leahy said.

#SEARCH: South Coast's Lifesaver 23 heading to Port Stephens to assist @nswpolice, @slsnsw, @MarineRescueNSW after abandoned yacht located.— Westpac Life Saver (@Lifesaverhelo) May 17, 2016

Police believe a 48-year-old Tasmanian man may have been living on the yacht, named FireFly, but they have not been able to find him.

A NSW Police spokeswoman said a man came across the yacht in shallow water at the beach on Tuesday and, when he could not find anyone on board, towed the vessel out to deeper water and anchored it.

The man then contacted police about 3pm to report what he had found.

Mr Leahy said the service's Life Saver 23 helicopter joined NSW Police, Marine Rescue NSW and Surf Life Saving NSW to search for any sign of the potentially missing man on Wednesday morning.

The search area extended from Point Stephens, near the entrance to Port Stephens, down to Stockton Beach and five nautical miles out to sea, Mr Leahy said.

Police have urged anyone with information about the yacht or the 48-year-old man from Tasmania to contact the NSW Police Marine Area Command on (02) 9320 7499.

Samurai Beach<\/p>\n",colour:"green", title:"Abandoned yacht found", maxWidth:200, open:0}] ); } if (!window.gmapsLoaders) window.gmapsLoaders = []; window.gmapsLoaders.push(CreateGMapgmap201641810382); window.gmapsAutoload=true; /*]]>*/ ]]>