A HELICOPTER crew were put to the test as they were scrambled to rescue an injured woman from a tall ship in stormy seas.

The Portland Coastguard helicopter was sent to a point off the Devon coast where the ship Tenacious reported a crew member with a head injury.

The ship, which was on its way to France, is owned by the Southampton-based charity the Jubilee Sailing Trust and has been designed to enable people with physical disabilities to sail.

Coastguards said it was a ‘challenging’ winch transfer from Tenacious in ‘heavy swell conditions’.

A coastguard spokesman said: “It was not a straight forward lift because for one there was a tall ship with masts and rigging so the helicopter had to come in from the rear.

The helicopter prefers to do a winch at speed and a sailing ship is not going to be travelling fast so that would also be a challenge. Plus there was a heavy swell so there was a big ship rolling around.”

The woman was airlifted direct to Derriford Hospital, Plymouth before the helicopter returned to Portland – a two-hour round trip in total on Wednesday night.

Jubilee Sailing Trust spokesman Sarah Davies said the crewmember was not badly hurt and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

She said the woman would rejoin the ship in France.