Six-hour rescue of 'unresponsive skipper' on yacht

RNLI crews from Salcombe and Torbay were involved in the search and rescue

Lifeboat crews in south Devon spent six hours in "challenging conditions" searching for and rescuing an unresponsive lone sailor in difficulty on a yacht.

RNLI crews from Salcombe and Torbay launched at 23:00 BST on Monday to search for a 32ft (10m) yacht, reported to have a skipper, which was "not responding to communications", the RNLI said.

The charity said the conditions were "very difficult" with a 10ft (3m) swell and strong winds.

At about 00:30 on Tuesday the yacht was found south west of Start Point and was towed to Dartmouth harbour where the skipper was helped by local coastguards.

Torbay RNLI lifeboat towed the vessel while Salcombe all-weather lifeboat shadowed both vessels.

Dart RNLI volunteers were contacted at about 04:00 and were transferred onto the casualty vessel, bringing it alongside Dartmouth Town Quay and helping the skipper to receive care.