A small yacht has been rescued off the West Cork coast after it got into difficulty this morning.

The Castletownbere lifeboat was launched at 6am after the vessel got into trouble 6 miles north of the Bull Rock.

The 27' yacht, 'Caroline', had two men on board. It was going from Valentia to Cape Clear.

The lifeboat located the vessel just after 7am. Conditions on scene were described as 'fresh South-East Force 7 winds with a moderate two metre swell'. Given the conditions, it was decided not to bring the yacht to Castletownbere.

It was instead towed to Ballycrovane Harbour and was safely berthed there just after mid-day.

Commenting on the call-out, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Tony O'Sullivan stated that "The two men are extremely grateful to the navy and the lifeboat crew for bringing them to safety".