Airlift rescue for stricken yacht

Two injured crew members were airlifted from a stricken British yacht in mountainous Atlantic seas today.

The 65ft yacht Persuader lost its mast and was holed after it capsized. Members of the seven-strong crew managed to right the yacht and cut away the mast.

The two injured crew members are a man and a woman, both British, who suffered rib injuries in the accident. They were winched off by American air force helicopters this morning in a major sea rescue operation and were taken to RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall.

Two long-range Jolly Green Giant helicopters were scrambled late last night from Mildenhall US Air Force base in Suffolk. Merchant vessels arrived at the scene and attempted to shelter the yacht from the worst of the weather.

The Persuader was on the way to the UK from the Caribbean when it ran into trouble in "atrocious" gales 480 miles south-west of Land's End. The five remaining crew have decided to stay on the yacht and will try to make it to Falmouth.