Four of the people on board Scorpion II are led away by an Ambulance and Rescue Service staff member and one of the lifeboat crew. (Picture by Tony Rive, 0577751)

NINE people were rescued when the engine of the Sunseeker, Scorpion II, caught fire. Two of them needed hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

The boat’s owner and skipper, Graham Beck, put out a Mayday call at about 7pm on Friday when smoke was spotted coming out of the bulkheads. ‘I want to thank everyone who helped in the rescue effort – the lifeboat, fire brigade and Buz White,’ said Mr Beck, 46.

He explained what had happened while the boat was just off St Martin’s Point. He explained what had happened while the boat was just off St Martin’s Point.

‘Smoke started to come out of the engine and the bulkheads and it felt really hot,’ he said. He said an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine had gone off. But he played safe by getting everyone on board into the boat’s life rafts.

‘Then another boat came along and the people in the other life raft got into that boat.’