1:50pm Wednesday 21st July 2010
By Matt Smith
OFF duty rescuers commandeered a speed boat to race to the aid of unconscious yachtswoman.
They sprung into action after receiving a mayday call this morning from a 29 foot yacht off the Isle of Wight.
A woman, in her mid 30s, had been knocked out when she was struck by the boom.
Two members of the Lepe based Solent Rescue Independent Lifeboat, Andy Walker and Mike Howley, had been working on the Seadogz charter boat in Cowes when the distress call came through at about 11am.
They sped to her rescue joined by Lymington RNLI helmsman Simon Nuding who was working nearby.
Mr Nuding said: "She had been knocked unconscious and was lying on the bottom of the bottom. "She'd taken a massive knock."
The yacht and its crew was towed into Cowes where an ambulance crew was waiting to treat the woman for suspected neck injuries.
It is thought the yacht had been competing in a race at the British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta.
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