A yacht had to be rescued in the early hours of Wednesday morning after its rigging was damaged in force six winds.

The 42ft boat was on passage from Falmouth to Cork when difficult conditions caused problems for the three crew.

Volunteers from Kilmore Quay RNLI were called in to help the vessel and arrived on the scene just before midnight.

An RNLI spokesperson said: “The crew encountered some damage to their rigging, being forced to alter course and run before the South-West winds that blowing at a force six.

“The yacht was 12 miles to the south of Kilmore Quay at 11pm when it put in a call to the coastguard for help.”

After arriving on scene, lifeboat crews passed a line to the yacht and towed it back to the local marina, arriving around 2.30am.