Coast Guard rescues two from boats off LI

The Coast Guard rescued two people in three days off Long Island, helping a man on a disabled sailboat Saturday afternoon and airlifting another man off a fishing boat Monday evening, officials said.

In the first incident Saturday, the Coast Guard received a distress call from the sailboat Boom De Yada at about 1:35 p.m. that the sail was torn and a line was fouled in the boat's propeller, officials said.

A rescue boat from the Coast Guard station in Shinnecock was dispatched but was unable to locate the 29-foot sailboat until Saturday evening because the caller incorrectly reported the position of the boat, the agency said in a news release. The boat was found about 35 miles off Shinnecock.

Officials said the sailor complained of head and back pain and was taken to Southampton Hospital for evaluation. The boat was towed to Shinnecock.

Monday afternoon, Coast Guard rescuers received a distress call from the 90-foot fishing boat Monomoy out of New Bedford, Mass., reporting that a crew member was complaining of difficulty breathing. The vessel was 35 miles southeast of Shinnecock, officials said.

A Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched from Air Station Cape Cod and the crew member was evacuated from the boat with a winch-controlled rescue basket at about 6 p.m.

The crewman, whose identity was not released, was taken to a Long Island hospital, officials said. Information regarding the condition of the crewman was not immediately available. Officials did not identify the hospital.