A Polish sailor ran his yacht onto the rocks at Cooper's Island yesterday afternoon and had to be towed to safety.

The 53-year-old, who was travelling alone on board the 28ft sailing boat Lucyfer, was rescued by the pilot boat The St. George just before 5 p.m. and towed to the Customs dock.

A duty officer at Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre said the man's SOS call came in at 4.10 p.m. "We don't really know what happened," said the officer.

He added that despite running aground on the rocks, the vessel did not have a hole. The sailor was travelling to Bermuda from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands bound for the Azores.