Four people have ‘amazing’ escape after yachts drift towards shore

Barra rescue: Yachts towed to safety.© STV

Four sea-goers "amazingly" escaped without being hurt after a harbour mooring broke free in bad weather and their yachts started heading towards the shore.

A Mayday alert went out at around 2.15am on Sunday, when the boats got into difficulty at Castlebay harbour, Barra, in Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Western Isles).

Carol Collins, watch manager at Stornoway Coastguard, said: "They were dragging a mooring and were heading straight for the shore. They needed assistance very quickly."

The yachts involved were a Norwegian boat, carrying two men, and a UK boat with a husband and wife team on board.

The lifeboat and coastguard teams from Barra were called to the scene. A coastguard helicopter from Stornoway was also scrambled to check if anybody was hurt or in the water.

A local boat named Haisker relayed information to the rescuers because it was difficult for them to communicate with the boats in trouble, the coastguard said.

The lifeboat gathered up the yachts, still containing their crews, and towed them to safety.

Ms Collins said: "Everyone was okay. Amazingly there were no injuries and no-one needed medical attention. All the services got on the scene really quickly, It was great that they did that and managed to get them recovered safely."

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