THE crew of Angle lifeboat has been praised by Coastguards after the rescue of a pensioner from his yacht during terrible conditions on Thursday night.

The rescue culminated with 75-year-old Bill Bailey from Burton Ferry, being plucked from his vessel by lifeboatmen as they pulled alongside the stricken 28-foot vessel, Teaona.

The lone sailor found himself in severe difficulties when his rudder jammed 20 miles south of Linney Head while en route from Padstow in Cornwall to Milford Haven. He was left with no steerage in force seven gales and the situation worsened when all power and communications were lost.

As the lifeboat, the RNLB The Lady Rank, made her way to the incident, the yacht suffered a collision with the Forth Fisher, a commercial vessel attempting to shelter the Teaona in its lee.

The Tyne-class lifeboat was eventually able to cut in between the two vessels and pull alongside the Teaona, enabling crew members to pull the skipper to safety. Jerry Rees, coxswain of Angle lifeboat, said: "It started out as a basic tow job, but ended up as a full-scale rescue."

The rescue was co-ordinated by Milford Haven Coastguard. And Andrew Hodgson, Coastguard watch manager, said: "This was an extremely courageous rescue and I cannot praise highly enough the bravery of the RNLI crew who battled fierce weather in order to rescue this man from his yacht. The Forth Fisher also did an excellent job in sheltering the yacht and lifeboat from the worst of the weather."

Conditions prevented anyone boarding the Teaona at the time and, although navigation warnings were broadcast, the drifting vessel was struck by a trawler at 4am on Friday.

MR Bailey, of Kiln Road, Burton Ferry, said: "Although I did have an emergency tiller, I could not remove the stump off the old one. The sea was breaking over the boat and it was difficult to get this piece of wood out and at the same time keeping the boat afloat. I am in my mid-seventies and it was getting a little bit exhausting. I contacted the coastguard to alert them of the position. It was reassuring to know that the lifeboat was on its way."

The following day Mr Bailey chartered a twin engine aircraft to search the area for his yacht.

"Visibility was tremendous but there was no trace and I can only assume the boat has sunk," he said.