Coast Guard rescues 3 from overturned sailboat off Portsmouth, N.H.

Three people were rescued by helicopter several miles off the coast of New Hampshire Friday after their sailboat capsized, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard was notified at 4:21 p.m. after an emergency beacon registered to the 42-foot sailing vessel Triad transmitted a distress signal from about 20 nautical miles off Portsmouth, according to a statement from the Coast Guard in Boston.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter launched from the Coast Guard’s Cape Cod station and eventually located the sailboat with three people waving and standing on its hull, the Coast Guard said.

@USCG crews successfully rescued 3 Mariners off Portsmouth, #NH after their EPIRB transmitted a distress signal.
The Mariners clung to the 42-foot sailing vessel’s hull until hoisted and brought safely to Pease Air National Guard Base where EMS was waiting. No injuries reported pic.twitter.com/n1Ns2jeGDd

— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) July 17, 2021

The sailors were hoisted into the helicopter and transported to Pease Air National Guard Base in Newington, N.H. No injuries were reported.

“A vessel is significantly easier to spot in the ocean than a person,” said Lt. Robert Turley, MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter pilot. “Mariners who stay with their vessel help take some of the search out of ‘search and rescue’ and this undoubtedly contributed to the success of this case.”

The Coast Guard said the overturned vessel is marked and there is a Special Marine Information Broadcast to notify mariners in the area of the hazard to navigation.

The boat’s owner is working with commercial salvage to recover it, the Coast Guard said.

Wind speeds were 20 mph with 5-foot seas at the time of the rescue, the Coast Guard said.