Man rescued after trying to sail to America in dinghy

A Bulgarian man - bizarrely armed with a map of Southampton - had to be rescued after trying to sail from Dorset to America in a 14ft dinghy.

The 30-year-old would-be sailor had to be dragged from his vessel by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crew after being told he would die if he carried on.

All the amateur had on board with him was a bag of biscuits, beans and hot dogs.

One of his rescuers Pete Dadds, 41, said: "He didn't have a life jacket, just a buoyancy aid, and the vessel didn't have any lights. We said 'if we leave you, you will die'."

When the man was brought back ashore he had to be cuddled as he was suffering from the first signs of hypothermia.