Three sailors were rescued when their yacht’s mast snapped and left them ‘drifting uncontrollably’.

The
Plymouth all-weather lifeboat and her volunteer crew attended the emergency call-out at 3.45pm on Monday.

The drama occurred at the mouth of the River Yealm on the South West coast of England.

An RNLI spokesman said two men and a woman were out sailing the boat when its mast came down and disabled
the craft.

Upon arrival at the scene, the lifeboat’s auxiliary ‘Y’ boat was launched – a small
inflatable with an outboard engine – which took two RNLI crewmen over to the
casualty yacht to provide assistance.

With the wreckage of the
mast across the deck, the 7.5m vessel was clearly disabled
and was drifting uncontrollably in blustery conditions.

After the yacht and its crew had been made safe, the stricken vessel was taken in-tow by the Plymouth lifeboat Sybil Mullen Glover and returned safely to its berth on the River Plym.

Picture: Two RNLI crew on the dismasted 7.5m yacht. Credit: RNLI/Barry Perrins