Police detained a 65-year-old British solo sailor under the Mental Health Act after he ignored warnings from the coast guard, refused assistance from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and ran his yacht aground in gale force winds.
Coast guard crews in Dover, England, began monitoring erratic radio communications from the sailor, who had drifted the 36-foot sailboat dangerously close to the shore. When the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Britain’s mostly volunteer lifeboat service, reached the sailor, he refused to make contact with them.
Police eventually detained the unidentified lone yachtsman under the Mental Health Act after paramedics, a rescue helicopter, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and coast guards were all involved in a 12-hour rescue.
Click here for a report with multiple photos by The Daily Mail and click here for a report by Yachting & Boating World.
