Sailor rescued after falling overboard

Woman was sailing from Island alone

A woman who was sailing single-handed from the Isle of Man in the early hours of last Friday had to be rescued when she fell out of her yacht into the Irish Sea.

The un-named sailor from Preston watched her craft, which was in auto-pilot, carry on towards the English coast without her.

She was in the water for an hour but was wearing a life-jacket fitted with a Personal Life beacon which alerted the coastguard to her predicament.

The woman was picked up by a rig supply ship following the May Day call and handed over to Fleetwood RNLI.

Her yacht was located by a search and rescue helicopter and eventually towed to safety.

She was reportedly shaken, with a few bruises but was generally okay.