A WOMAN was airlifted to hospital after she was hit on the head with the boom on board a yacht off Portland.

The Portland Coastguard Rescue Helicopter was scrambled to the incident after the skipper of the yacht, an 8.5m long vessel called Lazy Days with three people on board, made a Mayday broadcast requesting immediate assistance after it was thought the woman suffered serious injuries.

The incident happened shortly after 1pm yesterday just south of the island and coastguard officers were also tasked the incident. Once on scene, the rescue helicopter winched the casualty aboard and flew her direct to Dorset County Hospital (DCH) for treatment.

After she was taken to DCH’s Accident and Emergency Department it was found that the woman was heavily concussed but her injuries were not life threatening, a spokesman for Portland Coastguard said.

Wyke Regis Coastguard officers travelled to DCH to open the landing site alongside paramedics from the South Western Ambulance Service and Portland Bill Coastguard officers were also tasked to the incident.

The officers met the yacht and the two crew on board when it arrived back into Portland Harbour and transported them to the hospital.