A man who spent almost four hours in the sea in gale force weather conditions was recovering in hospital last night after he was rescued in a north Co Dublin estuary by the Irish Coast Guard.
The man, who is believed to be in his early forties and from Howth, Co Dublin, had been sailing a dinghy alone in the Broadmeadows estuary yesterday afternoon when his vessel capsized and he became separated from it.
He had been in the water for several hours when two canoeists spotted him and tried to assist him.
However, westerly winds of 32 knots hampered their efforts, and the two canoeists were themselves close to exhaustion when all three were spotted, holding hands for support, by the east coast Irish Coast Guard helicopter.
At this stage, the alert had been raised and an extensive shore search was under way.
The Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky, based at Dublin airport, was on a routine training exercise with the RNLI lifeboat and returned to search the area.
It picked up the three - the man in the water and the two canoeists - with its infrared camera and searchlight.
The man was winched to safety at about 8.15 p.m., and the canoeists were deemed fit to return to shore.
The man was wearing a buoyancy aid and wetgear, which may have aided his chances of survival, even though he was sailing alone and had become separated from his craft, which would have reduced the likelihood of his detection.
Hypothermia, which is the major risk factor in all waters colder than 25 degrees, normally develops after one hour in the water in normal clothing.
