Two North Sea race yachts rescued

The annual event was organised by Scarborough Yacht Club

Two yachts taking part in the annual Scarborough to Holland North Sea Race have had to be rescued by lifeboats.

A total of 14 yachts set sail from North Yorkshire on Friday evening in the event organised by Scarborough Yacht Club.

In the early hours of Saturday one yacht, Jos of Avon, started taking on water and headed for the Humber, where the Humber lifeboat towed it to Grimsby. A second vessel, Firebird, suffered mechanical failure and was towed by lifeboat to Great Yarmouth.

All crew members from both vessels were reported to be safe and well.

Nick Taylor, from Scarborough, who was on board Jos of Avon, said he believed the boat's rudder "either hit something under the water or caught a line".

He said: "The water in the bottom of the boat started to make the floor boards float around a little bit and it's by now you're starting to realise that this is more than you would usually have coming into the boat.

"We were desperately trying to work out where it might be coming from."

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