#rnli – Portaferry RNLI in County Down rescued two men in the early hours of this morning (Friday, 13 July) after a report that a rigid inflatable boat had collided with a yacht in Strangford Lough just off Killyleagh.
The lifeboat crew received a call from Coastguard at 2am following a report that a rib and a yacht had crashed and that both boats were sinking.
Crew launched its inshore Atlantic 85 lifeboat with four on board at 2.07am and made their way to the scene half a mile from land.
Weather conditions at the time were described as calm with no wind and with good visibility.
When the crew arrived on the scene they found two men in the rib but no one on board the yacht.
One man had sustained a minor head injury and both were taken by the lifeboat to a slipway at Killyleagh yacht club. The injured man was then taken to hospital by a friend who was waiting at the quay side.
Portaferry lifeboat crew then returned to the scene of the accident and secured both boats to a mooring before returning to base at 3.30am.
Deputy Launching Authority Lennie Lawson said the rescue was a credit to the volunteer crew who responded quickly and in numbers in the early hours of the morning: 'It was amazing how quickly our crew turned out and got to the scene launching within six minutes. Thankfully, weather conditions were favourable which assisted the crew in returning the casualty safely to shore'.