Night halts search for missing sailor

The search for a missing sailor whose yacht was found on rocks will be halted as night falls.

An abalone crew spotted the stricken vessel about 9.45am on Monday at Mallacoota and raised the alarm.

Police say the yacht belongs to a 65-year-old Wodonga man who sailed for Eden in NSW from Paynesville on Victoria's Gippsland Lakes on Saturday.

Victorian water police, the air ambulance, coast guard volunteers and the State Emergency Service are involved in the search.