A WOMAN sailor was airlifted to Hospital after suffering severe head injuries on a yacht in the Western Solent.

The 40-year-old was taken to Southampton General Hospital by Coastguard Helicopter after she was hit by her vessel’s boom in stormy waters off Hurst Castle at 2.30pm on Saturday.

She is said to be in a stable condition, while two of her crewmates who fell overboard during the accident and had to be dragged from the water by fellow sailors, were shaken but unharmed.

Yarmouth RNLI lifeboat crews escorted the vessel to the Isle of Wight for ambulance crews to check out the man and woman who fell in the water, before the yacht’s crew sailed back to Lymington.