Humber Coastguard received a distress alert from the 22ft yacht just after 8am this morning (Monday 18 August 2014). The person on board reported that he was taking on water, his sails were in tatters and the engine had failed. The wind at the time was gusting up to 46 mph, with a 3.5 metre swell.

The search and rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham was sent to the scene, along with the RNLI’s Cromer and Humber all-weather lifeboats. A vessel in the area at the time also went to help and stood by the yacht until rescue units arrived. The man was then winched on board the helicopter and taken to hospital to be checked over as he was showing signs of suffering from hypothermia.

Graham Dawson, Watch Manager at Humber Coastguard, said:

Conditions out in the North Sea so far today have been pretty treacherous, with winds gusting more than 40mph and a large swell.

However, this yacht was well-equipped with all the necessary communications equipment, so when he ran into trouble he could quickly raise the alarm. He had on board a VHF digital selective calling radio, which can send a distress alert and, if linked up to GPS, an accurate position of your vessel to the Coastguard with one touch of a button.