Five sailors escape as yacht hits rocks off Galway coast

Five sailors escaped injured when the yacht they were travelling in hit rocks off the coast of Galway in the early hours of this morning.

The boat had five crew on board when it ran aground and lurched on its side near Inverin, just before 3am this morning.

The crew, who had been competing in the annual Around Aran Race, immediately launched their life-raft and made their way ashore, where they raised the alarm.

The sailing boat was spotted drifting in Galway Bay early this morning by the Irish Coastguard helicopter - the Galway RNLI lifeboat was dispatched to the abandoned yacht this morning.