Desperate search for sailor after yacht hit rocks and then sank

MAN FOUND 'SEVERELY HYPOTHERMIC' AFTER MAJOR OP

- By STEVE BAGNALL

A MAJOR rescue operation was launched off the Anglesey coast for a sailor whose yacht had struck rocks before sinking.

A coastguard helicopter, lifeboat crews and local ferries were called to assist after the boat began to sink after striking the Platters, a set of rocks near The Skerries.

The lone sailor had issued a mayday call before contact with the vessel was lost.

As well as RNLI vessels and the coastguard helicopter answering the call for help, local vessels and two ferries heard the distress call and diverted course, in a bid to find and help the stricken sailor.

He was eventually found in the water, and was "severely hypothermic", having been in the Irish Sea for more than 30 minutes.

One of the rescuers said he had "never been more sure that we saved that man’s life" in his more than three decades of service.

An RNLI Holyhead Lifeboat Station statement said: “Holyhead RNLI were involved in a dramatic Mayday rescue on Tuesday, when a lone sailor's yacht struck rocks off the Anglesey coast.

“Both the station’s lifeboats were paged just after 4pm on Tuesday afternoon after reports of a man in the water after his vessel struck the Platters, a set of rocks near The Skerries, and began to sink.