6 hours agoWed 31 Dec 2025 at 5:38am

The incident occurred at Palm Beach, on Sydney's northern beaches. (ABC News)

In short:

A man has drowned and a 14-year-old boy is missing after a boat capsized at Palm Beach on Sydney's northern beaches.

A third person was winched to safety by helicopter and taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Water search efforts remain underway for the teenager.

Police have confirmed a man has drowned and a 14-year-old boy is missing after a boat capsized at Palm Beach on Sydney's northern beaches.

A third person, a man, was winched to safety by helicopter and has been taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a stable condition.

Emergency services were called to Palm Beach just before midday on Wednesday following reports of a boat capsizing near Barrenjoey Head.

A man was pulled from the water by Surf Life Saving members and treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics; however, he died at the scene.

He is yet to be formally identified.

Emergency services were contacted following reports a boat had capsized. (ABC News)

Search effort underway

Police, surf life savers and the Westpac Rescue helicopter are continuing to search the area to locate a 14-year-old boy who was a passenger on the boat.

"Surf Life Saving have a number of assets out on the water, including jetskis," Rod McGibbon, president of the NSW Surf Life Saving Northern Beaches, said.

"Conditions are not great, there's quite a large swell coming in and a bit of wind as well … which would have undoubtedly contributed to the incident with the boat."

Emergency services were called to Palm Beach on Wednesday morning. (ABC News)

Amid the poor weather conditions, visibility in the water has been limited for the search crews.

Mr McGibbon said experienced operators would continue throughout the day in the search effort.

Acting Inspector Nicole Turner from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command described the incident as "tragic".

"The search will continue this evening," she confirmed.