Coastguard rescue helicopters from Solent and Portland, as well as all weather RNLI lifeboats from Bembridge and Yarmouth were involved in a mid channel search last night after the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) received after a Mayday radio broadcast for urgent assistance was overheard.
Mayday call
At 4.50pm the Coastguard was contacted by a merchant vessel reporting that they had heard a Mayday on VHF radio from a trimaran vessel in difficulty and at risk of capsizing and reporting their position in latitude and longitude to be 37 miles south of the Needles (off the Isle Of Wight).
A British naval vessel also assisted with the search which saw overnight conditions of winds between force 5 and 6 from the west or south west.
Rescued this morning
A sailor was rescued from a battered and dismasted trimaran found this morning 18 miles south of Portland.
Coastguards coordinating the search for a trimaran in the channel overnight were contacted by the British naval vessel HMS St Albans shortly before 4am, reporting they were standing by a dismasted trimaran with one person visible on top of the damaged vessel.
The RNLI all weather lifeboat from Weymouth went to the scene and recovered a man from the damaged vessel and it is reported that there was only one person on board.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Julian Winslow
