Sailing boat rescued after engine failure

The Spirit of Guernsey lifeboat was launched to assist the stricken boat

A sailing boat which suffered engine failure while en route to Guernsey from Cherbourg in France has been rescued.

Guernsey Coastguard said it received a radio call from the 30ft (9.1m) vessel at about 20:10 BST on Sunday.

After receiving no response from the affected vessel to a later pan-pan radio transmission to see if possible assistance was needed, the St Peter Port all-weather lifeboat Spirit of Guernsey was launched.

The lifeboat arrived on scene at 20:57 and the decision was made to escort the vessel to St Peter Port, rescuers said.

The sailing vessel was found to be struggling against an increasing flood tide, so an RNLI crew member went on board to quickly rig up the boat to be towed.

The lifeboat and towed boat arrived back at St Peter Port at 22:39, where the sailing vessel was handed over to Guernsey Coastguard.