SALCOMBE RNLI has rescued the crew of a yacht from the entrance of Salcombe Harbour after a mayday call about a fire on board.

The all-weather lifeboat ‘The Baltic Exchange III’ was launched on Sunday, May 22, after Coxswain Chris Winzar heard the mayday call being broadcast and alerted the volunteer crew at 9.24am.

Due to the severity of the situation, the lifeboat was launched within five minutes and arrived on scene at 9.34am, just ten minutes after the call was made.

A crew member was put on board the 43-foot Tomia and along with the two-man crew of the vessel, established that there was’t a fire, but that the engine had overheated, causing steam to pour from the engine room.

A tow was established with the stricken yacht and it was towed back to the Normandy Pontoon in Salcombe just after 10am for further checks and repairs to be carried out.

Crew member Matt Davies said: ‘Thankfully this incident wasn’t as serious as first appeared and no one was injured. Once repaired the yacht was quickly on her way again continuing her journey.

This was our eighth launch of the year to date.’

You can follow the work of Salcombe RNLI on their Facebook page or on Twitter: @RNLISalcombe