Mainsail jammed A MAYDAY distress signal was received by Portland Coastguard at 1709 on Tuesday April 1 from the yacht Fair Festina whose mainsail was jammed.

There was a gale, force 8, blowing from the west and the sea was very rough.The yacht had eight people on board, five of them aged between ten and nineteen years, and some of them were suffering from severe seasickness. Several vessels in the immediate area heard the call and said they would go to the yacht.

At 1754 Fair Festina reported that one of her crew had a fractured finger.

An attempt to take him off by helicopter proved impossible because the yacht could not lower her mainsail.

Weymouth lifeboat was requested to launch and at 1830 the 52ft Barnett relief lifeboat Euphrosyne Kendal, on temporary duty at the station, slipped her moorings and set course for Fair Festina, 13'/2 miles to the south east.

Several attempts were made to take off the yacht's crew by the vessels City of Florence and Univenture, but it was not possible in the high seas. They were asked to stand by until the arrival of the lifeboat.

Euphrosyne Kendal reached theyacht at 2006 and a lifeboatman was put on board. Six of the passengers were transferred to the lifeboat and the yacht taken in tow to Weymouth where the six were taken to hospital for a medical check.

The lifeboat was back on her moorings and once again ready for service by 0015 on April 2.

For this service a letter signed by Cdr Bruce Cairns, chief of operations RNLI, and expressing the Institution's appreciation to Coxswain Victor Pitman and his crew was sent to Lt-Cdr B. F. Morris, honorary secretary of Weymouth lifeboat station..