Rescuers tow 44ft yacht to Gosport after fire and engine failure

The vessel was taken ashore by a crew from Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service today, after there was a suspected fire on board.

The yacht’s crew of five – of whom two were deteriorating with cases of serious sea sickness – called the coastguard for assistance at around midday.

Within minutes, a GAFIRS crew attended the scene – with rescuers already out on patrol at the time.

GAFIRS Lifeboat coxswain Peter Brown said: ‘The crew did the right thing in the conditions and called for assistance.

‘While they would have been able to make way under sail, they were facing poor conditions and a long journey.

‘We soon located the vessel and placed a crew member on board to assist.

‘They assessed the engine with the crew and ascertained the suspected fire was more likely an engine part failure.

‘My crew then rigged a stern tow and helped take the vessel on safely to its berth in Gosport Marina, where its crew were very glad to get back on dry land and in the warm.’

In total the operation took two hours and was GAFIRS’ ninth incident of the year.