COWES RNLI lifeboat yesterday (Sunday) raced to the aid of a yachtsman who had been knocked unconscious by a boom in The Solent.
The man, aged 30 and from Bournemouth, was believed to be aboard an Etchell day-boat, off Osborne Bay, when the incident occurred. He was transferred to the Excalibur, a vessel operated by Cowes Online.
The RNLI’s Cowes-based Atlantic 85, which had been exercising off Fishbourne, was alerted to the emergency by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
When helmsman Paul Hallam brought the RIB alongside the Excaliber, two crew members with first aid training, Richard O’Callaghan and Gary Payne, went aboard and examined the yachtsman, who by then had regained consciousness.
With the injured man still on board, the Excalibur proceeded to Trinity Pier, off Cowes Parade, shadowed by the lifeboat. Waiting ashore was an ambulance to take him on to hospital for a precautionary check up.
This was the second time Cowes RNLI lifeboat had been called out over the weekend.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, Island police had alerted the Maritime and Coastguard Agency over concerns for a man who might be in the sea.
The lifeboat, called out just after 5am, initially searched an area off Castle Point, East Cowes, and was then asked to extend the search pattern to Kings Quay.
But shortly before 7am the search was called off, when a text message revealed the man was safely ashore.
Reporter: martinn@iwcpmail.co.uk