At just before 3.00 pm this afternoon Solent Coastguard were alerted to an incident on board the yacht  ‘Shabeen’ sailing south east of Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

The vessel was under power at 8 knots and the crew were taking in the sails. when a spar of the Bavaria 46 sailing yacht with its sails up,  dropped onto the head of a 56 year old man who was working on the foredeck, causing serious injury. 

His condition was described by his crew as serious, and he was suffering a significant loss of blood but was conscious and breathing regularly. A pad was being applied to the wound to staunch the blood loss.

The Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 104 based at Lee on Solent was scrambled, and the Bembridge RNLI lifeboat was also requested to launch.

The helicopter arrived above the vessel (pictured) in just a few minutes, and the crew decided to affect a high line rescue of the wounded man. He was then taken to the Lordshill landing site in Southampton before onward transmission by ambulance to the General Hospital.

Simon O’Mahony, Winchman on board the rescue helicopter described the crew of the ‘Shabeen’ as very competent when dealing with a seriously injured colleague.

He said

“All yachtsmen and women hope accidents won’t happen to them or to anyone else on their boat, but when it does confidence in the medical procedures prepared in advance on board are essential. The crew had clearly thought about their responsibilities and their ability to help my helicopter crew and me prepare the casualty for airlift off the vessel in the quickest and safest possible manner.

“This they did in a very efficient and orderly way, even though due to the boat deck configuration the accident took place on the for’ard part of the vessel and not the rear port quarter which is the usual location favoured by rescue aircrews.”

Mike Greiner, Duty Watch Manager at Solent Coastguard added that other yachts also have a responsibility in such incidents by maintaining radio silence on VHF Channel 16 or 67 during the rescue operation in order for the Coastguard to listen to or offer advice to the helicopter crew.

He said that the Coastguard had had to interject with the internationally recognised ‘Mayday Silence’ signal at various times as yacht crews attempted to hail each other in order for that broadcast silence to be maintained.

By 4.00 pm the injured man was on board the helicopter bound for the landing site, whilst his yacht and crew made for Gosport.

Mike Greiner added that he and the Watch at Solent Coastguard hoped the man would make a full and swift recovery.