Yachtsmen Saved By Helicopter

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27502, 9 November 1954, Page 10

Yachtsmen Saved By Helicopter

(NJS, Press Association— Copyright) LONDON, Nov; 6. Four men were rescued by helicopter today from the 60ft yacht Dawn Star in distress off Newquay, Cornwall. They were hauled up 60 feet by winch from the yacht’s deck and carried dangling to the beach a quarter of a mile away, the “Evening Standard” reported, A distress signal at the yacht’s masthead was sighted by coastguards. They sent rocket life-saving gear to the beach, but the rocket failed to reach the vessel being buffeted in the breakers of Fistral Bay. An S.O.S. was sent to the Royal Navy’s air station at Culdrose. Within a few minutes Lieutenant J. Summerlee took off in his helicopter with a-22-year-old telegraphist, Mervyn Henley, as winchman.

_ They arrived over the Dawn Star to find the vessel tossing wildly, the “Evening Standard” said. "The dodgiest part was avoiding the mast as it got near the rotors.” said Lieutenant Summerlee. The helicopter trailed a life-line over the yacht and one by one the four men were plucked from the deck and dropped among the waiting crowds on the beach. The whole operation took 20 minutes. Shortly after the rescue operation, the Padstow lifeboat reached the Dawn Star and took her in tow.