AN East Yorkshire yachtsman feared lost at sea has been rescued after activating an emergency beacon aboard his yacht.
An RAF Leconfield Sea King helicopter flew to the stranded sailor, named as Christopher Pickering, who was waving from the deck of his boat, Equinox, about 80 miles east of Spurn Point.
The man, 69, was reported missing by his family yesterday, after they had become concerned for his safety.
His 17ft Leisure 17 yacht was last seen in the Kiel Canal, at Brunsbuttel, Germany where he was thought to have set off on July 4 bound for Scarborough.
It is thought Mr Pickering had problems with his navigation equipment and had become lost.
Watch manager at Humber Coastguard, Mike Green, said: "We are all absolutely delighted that this gentleman has been found alive and well. It is thanks to an excellent effort by all those involved in the search and rescue and is a testament to the value of emergency beacon equipment. It is important that yachtsmen planning this sort of passage have adequate communications and log a passage plan with a shore contact. The more information that is available to coastguards, the more concentrated we can make our search efforts."
Mr Pickering is now aboard a UK-registered vessel which went to his rescue at the request of the Humber Coastguard.
When he went missing, Humber Coastguard asked the search and rescue helicopter from RAF Leconfield to make a wide sweep of the area from Scarborough to the middle of the North Sea, whilst German counterparts carried out a similar search from Helgoland.
A general alert to French, Belgian, Dutch authorities and shipping was also put out, and Humberside Police logged a missing person's alert with Interpol.
Humber Coastguard also appealed to the yachtsman directly after the shipping forecast to urgently make contact.
