Royal Navy rescue capsized kayaker off Cornwall coast

A kayaker was rescued by the Royal Navy after getting into difficulty off the coast of Cornwall.

The man had capsized while paddling off the Lizard Peninsula and made an urgent mayday call on his radio.

The message was picked up by a Royal Navy helicopter crew, who happened to be practising search and rescue winching in Falmouth Bay.

They immediately flew towards the search area, close to cliffs about one mile south of Coverack.

The crew was joined on the rescue by Falmouth Coastguard and Lizard RNLI crews.

The kayaker was spotted in the water by Lieutenant Robert Templeton, who was winched down to rescue him.

“This was actually the first time I’ve ever done this,” said Lt Templeton. “We didn’t really adapt anything, and we carried on just as though it were a training exercise rather than real-life.

“It was a team effort and we all worked together to make sure it had a successful outcome.”

The kayaker was cold and shocked but otherwise unhurt.

He was later transported to RNAS Culdrose at Helston, where naval medics treated him.