Falmouth Coastguard has rescued three crew from a French yacht in the Atlantic.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said an emergency alert was received from the crew of Idem, a Beneteau 38, at about 0730 yesterday.
Sailing from Iceland to Brittany, the yacht had been blown 500 miles off course in Force 7 winds and its engine had failed.
Falmouth notified a nearby container ship which picked up the crew and the yacht was abandoned.
Watch officer Henry Purbrick said the yachtsmen’s lives were saved by their EPIRB.
He said: ‘We cannot stress how important it is to carry a registered EPIRB. It certainly saved the lives of these three yachtsmen.