Man rescued off Mayo coast after yacht capsizes in high seas

A man was rescued off the coast of Co Mayo by emergency services after his yacht overturned in high seas, the Western People reports.

After the vessel capsized, two men spend 72 hours stranded at sea before Achill Coast Guard attended the scene on Friday afternoon. One of the men had managed to scale the cliffs off Dooega Head and alert emergency services.

The Cliff Top Rescue Team climbed Dooega Head and Rescue 118 landed a short time later after personnel assessed the scene.

The casualty was winched to safety and taken to Mayo University Hospital.

Customs officers and An Garda Síochána took charge of the operation on Saturday.

Achill Coast Guard thanked their colleagues in Rescue 118, Gardai and Achill Island RNLI for their assistance.

Peter McManamon of Achill Coast Guard said: “They were at the back of Dooega Head for three days.

“One of them managed to climb up the cliffs and raise the alarm.

“The local guard [Martin O’Reilly] then got in contact with the RNLI and they got in contact with us because we thought we might have to climb down for the other lad.

“But conditions weren’t great so we got the helicopter to come down, R118 and they airlifted him.

“Then today [Saturday] we were stood down and the customs and the guards took over.

“They were doing a salvage on it.

“Marine investigation guys came down and they took over from us.”