Solo skipper rescued from grounded, sinking yacht

A skipper has been rescued from a sinking, grounded vessel off Penzance, in Cornwall.

Falmouth Coastguard sent both RNLI Penlee lifeboats to the yacht at 23:00 BST on Saturday.

In poor conditions and as the tide rose rescuers pulled the 32ft (10m) yacht free of rocks and towed it to Newlyn harbour.

Rescuers said hull damage had caused the vessel to take on water.

'A lot of water'

A spokesperson for the RNLI Penlee station said: "To assist the elderly skipper the Penlee all-weather lifeboat put an RNLI volunteer on to the yacht who quickly informed coxswain Patch Harvey that the vessel was taking on a lot of water.

"The yacht had suffered hull damage while aground and for the next two hours the yacht was pumped out every 20 minutes until nearer to high tide when it was towed to the north pier so it could dry out, [and] at low tide assess the hull damage."

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