Officials from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board arrived in West Cork to begin their probe into the sailing tragedy that took the life of a 66-year-old English man and forced his two elderly friends to swim a kilometre to shore.

The three sailors in their 60s and 70s were clinging to the side of their boat when they saw an island come into view.

The 66-year-old British man who died when his 5.5m yacht capsized off the West Cork coast kept a holiday home and mooring in the wider Schull area.

It is believed a man in his 60s who died when an 18ft yacht capsized off the West Cork coast this morning was living in the wider Schull area.