An injured couple were rescued by a Tory peer yesterday after a yachting accident off the Dorset coast. It’s believed the couple had been struck by the boom during a sail-change, sending the elderly man into the water and knocking the woman unconscious over the helm.

Conservative peer Lord Glentoran (71) was sailing on his yacht Lazy Life with off-duty coastguard Ian Murdoch (51) when they were alerted to the vessel Talisman II by red handheld flares. Lord Glentoran, the shadow minister for Northern Ireland, and Mr Murdoch carried out a search until they found the casualty and got him back aboard his yacht.

The coastguard helicopter Whisky Bravo then airlifted the unconscious woman to hospital, while the remaining crew – two women, a child and the elderly man – were taken ashore by Swanage lifeboat.

Coastguard watch manager at Portland, Jim Anderson, said ‘Ian and Lord Glentoran did an excellent job in finding and recovering this man and also keeping us up to date with information regarding the situation with the lady, who is now being treated in hospital.’

Photo: Swanage Lifeboat