2 people rescued after massive waves throw them off watercraft at the Wedge

Lifeguards at the Wedge surf spot in Newport Beach pulled two people from the water who were pounded by massive waves that threw them off their personal watercraft Saturday afternoon.

Photos of the incident show a man and a woman on the watercraft about 100 yards from shore headed toward the jetty that protects Newport Harbor.

At some point, the riders seemed to realize they were too close to shore and tried to outrun a wave that appeared to be about 20 feet tall.

The surf, however, quickly swallowed them up. After knocking off the riders, the swells picked up the watercraft and slammed it onto the jetty rocks at around 4 p.m.

Lifeguards quickly pulled the pair from the water as thousands of bystanders watched, according to lifeguards.

Disabled boats have bean beaten against the rocks of the Wedge before, but it’s unheard of for a functioning watercraft to end up caught in the dangerous swells, according to lifeguard Battalion Chief Brent Jacobsen.

“I’ve been here 30 years and I’ve not seen that happen,” he said.

Lifeguards often warn people to stay away from the Wedge. Its huge waves that break against the jetty attract surfers and bodyboarders, but the conditions can be perilous for the inexperienced.

In this case, the riders had rented the watercraft in the harbor earlier that day and were trying to return when they got disoriented and accidentally ended up at the Wedge, Jacobsen said.

After being pulled from the waves, they were taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach with injuries that were not life-threatening, Jacobsen said.

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Jeremiah Dobruck, jeremiah.dobruck2@latimes.com

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck