The volunteer crew with Douglas RNLI were called out in the early hours of this morning to assist the stranded yacht in the Irish Sea

The crew of a becalmed yacht off the Isle of Man have been rescued by Douglas RNLI

The skipper contacted the UK Coastguard in the early hours of this morning (29 March) after a lack of wind left them stranded around two miles off Douglas.

There was insufficient fuel on board for the yacht to complete its journey under power.

The volunteer lifeboat crew were paged at 2.41am and launched the RNLI all-weather lifeboat, Sir William Hillary, commanded by coxswain Graeme Cushnie.

After making contact with the yacht, the Douglas RNLI lifeboat towed the vessel to safety.

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In a press release, Douglas RNLI said: “The yacht with two people on board had been on passage from Kirkcudbright since 10.30am the previous day and the crew had tacked for the approach to Douglas some two miles out when the wind dropped leaving them becalmed.”

“With insufficient fuel to then complete their journey under power the crew had called for assistance.”

“The RNLI all-weather lifeboat Sir William Hillary launched under the command of volunteer coxswain Graeme Cushnie to tow the casualty vessel back to the Liner Berth between the Victoria and Edward Piers in Douglas Harbour where the Coastguard were waiting to assist,” aded the release.

The lifeboat then returned to station where it was re-housed and made ready again for service by 3.45am