Sailor at Cowes Week has died after going overboard

Cowes Week takes place off the Isle of Wight every August

A yachtsman who was competing in this year's Cowes Week has died.

The man, aged in his sixties, was seriously injured after falling from a boat into the sea.

The Cowes RNLI Lifeboat team said they went through rough sea to get to him. It is thought that the man was dragged through the water by his boat's main sheet.

According to the lifeboat crew. the first person to reach the man in the water was another man who dived into the sea from another yacht called Riff Raff, part of the RS Elite fleet.

The injured man was pulled out of the water and put onto a RIB which was then escorted by the RNLI to the Trinity Landing pontoon. However despite their efforts, neither the RIB team or the RNLI crew were able to resuscitate him. A paramedic was winched down to the scene by the Coastguard helicopter.

Ambulance crews and coastguards from Ventnor were also there to give assistance. However the patient had to be taken to St Mary's Hospital in Ventnor, where he was later pronounced dead.

Hampshire Police said the man's next of kin have been informed. Officers have confirmed that his death is not being treated as suspicious.

The organisers of the event, 'Cowes Week Limited', issued a statement: