A LIFEBOAT crew was called out to reports of a missing lone skipper.

Swanage Lifeboat was alerted at 10.26pm on Tuesday to reports that a 12m cutter yacht was overdue on its passage from Cherbourg to Lymington.

Colleagues of the lone skipper on board the cutter yacht had expected to meet him for dinner at Lymington, and with no word from him they decided to report that he was missing to the UK Coastguard.

The Coastguard put out several ‘all ships’ calls for any reports of the missing vessel and contacted local harbours to try to locate it.

With concerns rising, the Swanage Lifeboat crew were tasked to search Swanage Bay. However, a swift search of the bay proved fruitless, so the lifeboat made its way to Studland where several radar targets indicated there were boats at anchor there.

The second boat the crew approached matched the description of the 12m cutter rigged yacht and the lifeboat’s searchlight revealed the missing boat’s name across the yacht’s transom.

The crew reported their discovery to the UK Coastguard, while a talk to the skipper revealed he had been diverted to Studland by a strong gust of wind and his mobile phone was not connecting to the UK network.

A quick conversation with the Coastguard via radio confirmed everyone had been found safe and well and so the lifeboat crew returned to Swanage at 11.08pm.