Yacht towed back to shore after engine fails

A yacht had to be towed back to shore after suffering engine failure off the south coast of Guernsey on Thursday evening.

Guernsey Coastguard said it received a distress call from the boat at about 20:30 BST but due to poor initial communications had to use radar to identify its position.

Once the yacht, which had two sailors onboard, was located about two miles (3.2km) south-east of St Martin's Point, two lifeboats were launched to find it.

Duty SAR Mission Coordinator Simon Granger said the crew attempted to sail under engine power but "this also failed" and due to the sea conditions "they were unable to work on the problem".

He said: "They made the decision to call for assistance before the situation deteriorated further.

"Thanks to the swift response of the lifeboat crew, the vessel was located quickly and brought safely back to St Peter Port."

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