Man dies after falling overboard

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/7603827.stm

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A man has died after he was hit by the boom of a yacht and knocked overboard off the coast of south Wales.

Swansea Coastguard said he was on a 27ft vessel called Gun Smoke in the Bristol Channel when the incident happened on Sunday afternoon,

A second man on the yacht made a distress call and coastguards immediately launched a major rescue.

The unconscious man was winched out of the sea and airlifted to hospital in Cardiff, where he was pronounced dead.

Swansea Coastguard received a mayday call reporting the man overboard at about 1500 BST on Sunday.

The yacht was five miles south of Rhoose Point when he was hit by the boom of the yacht and knocked into the water, they said.

Unconscious

Six vessels in the area at the time immediately went to help and at the same time lifeboats from Barry and Minehead in Somerset were requested to launch.

A coastguard spokesman said a rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor in Devon scrambled and the man, who was wearing a lifejacket, was spotted in the water unconscious.

The man was later pronounced dead at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

Arwyn Williams, from Swansea Coastguard, said: "The sailor remaining on the yacht did the right thing in calling for help straight away, so we could get assistance to him fast so as to help his colleague.

"Sadly, in this incident, the injured sailor was declared dead at the hospital.

"This has been a tragic incident, which should have been a pleasurable day's sailing.

"Our thoughts are extended to the family of this man at this time."