Thanks to George for the latest from Cowes RNLI. Ed
A local dentist was for a change on the receiving end of an extraction, when Cowes RNLI lifeboat came to his rescue after the mast of his windsurfer broke in a choppy Solent.
The incident occurred on the evening of Friday (30 April) when he was windsurfing off Gurnard in a Force 5 westerly.
Four people on-shore, a third of a mile away, eventually spotted him clinging to his board as it drifted eastwards, and Lee on Solent coastguards alerted Cowes lifeboat.
With Matt Chessell at the helm, the lifeboat took both him and his board to the nearby shore.
He had initially been windsurfing for several other people, but when the others went ashore he carried on with his activity. It was then that the dismasting occurred.
Although he thought he had been clinging to the crippled craft for one and half hours when the lifeboat arrived, he maintained he was none the worse for his ordeal.
