Portstewart: Relief as three people rescued after boat sinks

A man who helped rescue two people after their pleasure boat sank in rough seas off the north coast has described his relief at finding survivors.

Richard Connor was one of the first people to respond to the boat's mayday call, sent out after it got into trouble near Portstewart on Saturday.

All three people on board were rescued - two by Mr Connor and the other by the RNLI Portrush lifeboat.

He said that when he arrived on the scene the boat was "completely gone".

However, after a frantic search by Mr Connor's boat the Causeway Lass, a "hand sticking out of a wave" was spotted, leading to the rescue of two crew members.

The rescue came during high winds and choppy conditions due to the remnants of Storm Betty, which had caused disruption across Northern Ireland.

Mr Connor responded to the mayday call from his boat the Causeway Lass.

The skipper said when he arrived there was no sign of anyone and "all that was left was a puddle of diesel".

He was joined soon after by the RNLI Portrush lifeboat, which received a call from HM Coastguard at 12:50 BST about the sinking boat.

"We could see nothing - we all started to do a very frantic search around the bay," he said.

"We stopped and worked out what way the tide was going - where the people and the trails would be."

Those searching began to find bits of debris from the boat, including a black fuel tank.

"We figured out very quickly we were somewhere near where the people were," Mr Connor said.

"After two or three minutes of searching we saw what was a hand sticking out of the wave - which was the first person."

Soon after they heard the sound of a whistle from another person in the water and Mr Connor called the RNLI lifeboat over to assist.

"We got two of them out and the lifeboat got the third [person].

"The guys were incredibly fortunate that they were found, given the conditions - they were very trying conditions."

Mr Connor said he felt relieved when they finally found the missing people.

"It goes from great despair to elation when you finally get them on board

"A mayday call is not something you would ever knowingly wish to respond to," he added.

Mr Connor said it was a team effort alongside the RNLI, HM Coastguard, PSNI, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Aquaholics, a diving school in Portstewart.

"We were part of a team, thankfully we came across and found the people but the assistance of the lifeboat and the other charter boat - we managed to cover quite a bit of area fairly quickly."

Beni McAllister, lifeboat operations manage at Portrush, said the sinking boat's crew members "were very lucky in that they had buoyancy aids and also means of communication to call for help".

"Thank you too to our local boatowners who responded so quickly to the call."