Men rescued from yacht after heavy storm shreds their sails

Lifeboat: The RNLI found the men 'cold, wet and exhausted' but unharmed.

Two yachtsmen have been rescued after a storm destroyed their sails off the east coast of Scotland.

The men became stranded amid two metre-high waves and 40mph winds off the Isle of May, near Anstruther, Fife, on Saturday morning.

Lifeboat crews and and RAF Helicopter picked up a distress call at about 11am and found the men, who were said to be "cold, wet and exhausted" but unharmed.

An RNLI spokesman said crews struggled at first to locate the yacht, which was sailing from Arbroath to Eyemouth, because of a weak radio signal.

"Eventually the stricken yacht was spotted by Dunbar's all-weather lifeboat, the John Neville Taylor, which managed to get alongside it on the fourth attempt," he said.

"A crewman went onboard to assist the yacht's two cold, wet and exhausted sailors."

Dunbar lifeboat crewman Gary Fairbairn said: "The boat's sails had shredded and some of the shrouds holding up the mast had snapped.

"With our crewman on board we managed to tow the yacht to calmer waters in the lea of the Isle of May and get the two sailors off into the warmth of the lifeboat."

The yacht was then towed to Pittenweem in Fife where the two men were checked by paramedics. They did not need hospital treatment.

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