A man was winched from the River Blackwater yesterday after his sailboat capsized and left him in the water for 30 minutes.
The coastguard was alerted at around 2.30pm and the West Mersea lifeboat was dispatched.
Coastguard spokeswoman Jo Groenenberg said that the man, who was in his 50s, had an RAF helicopter divert from an exercise and winch him from the water and take him to a coastguard landing area.
He was then taken to Colchester Hospital.
It is believed he suffered no injuries, but was very cold due to the length of time he was in the water.
