County sailors in sea rescue

Friday 4th July 2008, 11:50AM BST.

Two sailors from Shropshire were rescued by a lifeboat after running into difficulties during a boating trip off the Welsh coast.

Warwick Roberts, 59, and 66-year-old Stephen Howell-Jones, from Hodnet, were rescued from their yacht yesterday amid high speed winds and huge waves off Anglesey.

Both men were uninjured, but had to battle to keep control of the 33ft sailboat, named Bagatele, for more than three hours until they were taken to safety by the Holyhead Lifeboat.

Mr Roberts said he has been boating for 10 years, but still felt frightened when the winds picked up.

He said a calm night turned into a windy one, with gusts measuring up to seven on the Beaufort Wind Scale and 2m waves.

He added said: “It got very windy unpredictably and it damaged the steering.”

Both men were taken to safety in Holyhead marina by 11pm.

View more: North Shropshire news.