They were rescued from the ice-cold Atlantic waters moments before their fishing vessel sank.

An RNAS Culdrose helicopter winched the four-man crew of Girl Patricia to safety from the sea and airlifted them to hospital yesterday.

They were understood to be cold, shocked and tired but otherwise all right.

Last night, Helen Williams, whose husband Shaun and son Aaron were both on board the stricken trawler, told the WMN of her relief that her family were safe and well.

All four crew members were said to be uninjured and recovering from the ordeal at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, last night before returning home to Newlyn, near Penzance.

The coastguard was first called at just after 3.30pm yesterday with news that the Newlyn-based Girl Patricia was taking on water 28 nautical miles North West of Lands End.

The coastguard requested the rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose and the Sennen Cove lifeboat to launch and a mayday signal was put out to other vessels in the area.

By 3.50pm, the crew reported that the fish room on board was half full of water and that the engine room was awash.

The Culdrose 193 helicopter was on a training exercise in Mounts Bay and returned to base to pick up an essential water pump before reaching Girl Patricia at 4.05pm.

Petty Officer Air Crewman Jason Bibby, the winchman on board, said: "From the sound of the ship captain's voice we could tell things were starting to deteriorate. It was only when we were virtually alongside that we got a radio call to say they were abandoning ship.

"Seconds later we started winching. The men were cold and disappointed and quite sad but medically OK."

The helicopter navigator, Lt Phil Gamble, was operating the winch for the first time in a real emergency.

He said: "If we'd arrived 10 minutes earlier we would probably have got the water pump on deck just before the boat lost stability - a little bit of luck went our way."

Another vessel, the Ben-My-Chree, had answered the mayday call and was nearby when the Culdrose helicopter flew in.

Mrs Williams was with family and friends at her Newlyn home last night, awaiting the return of her husband and son.

She said: "The first thing I knew was when my brother-in-law phoned me at work and the first thing he said was not to panic.

"He said the boat has gone down and it didn't register at first it was such a shock. Even though he said over and over again that they were fine, it was just horrendous."

Mrs Williams said the boat had set out last Friday and was due to come back to port this weekend.

Speaking of her experiences as a wife and mother of fishermen, she said: "I've been doing this for 28 years and I've always had faith in Shaun and the boat and she has always brought them home safe and sound.

"She's an old boat, but you never think it's going to happen. I'm just so relieved that everyone is all right."

The other two crew members were thought to be Edward Jones and Rhys Fyffe.

The Fisherman's Mission was alerted by the coastguard and was planning to meet the crew on their release from hospital last night.

Phil Lockley, WMN fishing correspondent, said Girl Patricia was one of the last big wooden fishing boats to be built in Cornwall and was launched in 1969 from Porthleven boatyard.

Mr Lockley said: "She's quite a lovely boat - it will be a sad loss to the fleet."

Mick Quinn, watch manager at Falmouth Coastguard, said: "The UK Hydrographer will be informed as to the wreck site. Some debris has been recovered and we are monitoring the extent of any pollution that may arise.

"The vessel's emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) has also been retrieved from the water when it began to emit signals after floating free from the wreck."

article copyright  WESTERN MORNING NEWS

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