A ROUTINE exercise turned into a real-life emergency when Cowes RNLI Lifeboat was called to reports of a yacht fire yesterday (Sunday).
The six-strong crew of the 38-foot Bavaria-class yacht, Rude Knot 2, sent out a mayday call, half-a-mile north of Egypt Point, when smoke started to pour from the inboard diesel engine.
The lifeboat, with Paul Hallam at the helm, raced to the scene but found the incident had already been dealt with by the, mainly novice, crew. The yacht, based at Hamble, was towed by the lifeboat to Cowes.
"It appeared the engine had overheated and what was perceived as smoke could well have been steam," said lifeboatman Mark Chessell. "Fortunately no-one on board was hurt."