Four People Rescued From Yacht Off Antrim Coast

Four people have been rescued after the yacht they were travelling in got into difficulty off the Antrim coast.

Belfast Coastguard asked Larne RNLI to launch both their all-weather and inshore lifeboats after it was reported that a large yacht had sustained engine failure a mile north east of Muck Island at around 6.30pm on Thursday, 07 July.

At the scene one of the four people onboard was suffering from sea sickness.

Crew members tended to the person who was sick while the all-weather lifeboat crew prepared the yacht for towing.

As soon as a towline was established, the all-weather lifeboat began the passage to Carrick Marina.

Philip Ford-Hutchinson, Larne RNLI Deputy Launching Authority said: "This call out was a great example of both our inshore and all-weather lifeboats working well together to assist the four people onboard the casualty vessel. The inshore lifeboat crew members were able to administer casualty care to the person who was seasick before assisting the all-weather crew with setting up a tow and then helping to manoeuvre the yacht in the tight confines of Carrick Marina. Our volunteer crew regularly train for scenarios like this and those skills and training were put to good use last night."

(CD/MH)