Sailor, 93, rescued by Hayling Island RNLI after his dinghy capsized

A 93-YEAR-OLD man was rescued after his dinghy became swamped after it capsized.
The 93-year-old man's Gull dinghy after it was brought to the lifeboat station. Picture: RNLIThe 93-year-old man's Gull dinghy after it was brought to the lifeboat station. Picture: RNLI
The 93-year-old man's Gull dinghy after it was brought to the lifeboat station. Picture: RNLI

The Hayling Island RNLI came to the rescue of an elderly man at the mouth of Chichester Harbour on Saturday.

Sailors say the man, whose identity has not been released, became very cold after his dinghy overturned among the waves at Winner Bank – forcing him to float until he was spotted by a fishing boat that radioed the coastguard.

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The Hayling Island RNLI soon arrived at the scene, where fishing boat was being used to stop the Gull dinghy being washed ashore.

Helm Pete Hanscombe, who attended the incident on board the station’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat, said: ‘The elderly man had been in the water for an unknown length of time and clearly was in distress.

‘He was very glad to be in the lifeboat heading to safety.’

Following the rescue, the man was treated for hypothermia by the station’s paramedic and shore crew.

After the man recovered, an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital – being discharged later that day.

A sailing mate collected his Gull dinghy from the lifeboat station the following day, after it had to drift ashore by the tide.