Falmouth Coastguard are urging sailors to register their boats after a 37 foot yacht broke free and smashed into another vessel at Mylor on Sunday evening.

The team was called at around 9pm, and on arrival at the harbour in "horrendous" conditions, found the vessels in question were on the outside pontoon and taking the full brunt of the wind.

A coastguard spokesperson said: "The vessel had arrived earlier in the day and the owner had tied it off with no regard for the prevailing weather conditions.

"These actions had in turn caused quite considerable damage to the other vessel and itself. At one point the stern of the yacht landed on the pontoon and broke it's rudder.

"We managed, with the help of the owners of the boat that it had hit, to get some lines on it and secure it. Some had parted as we were working partly due to the very poor weather conditions and also the poor condition of some of the lines."

Having secured the boat to the best of their ability, the coastguard returned to base, while the owners of the second boat spent the night at a friend's house nearby.

The coastguard spokesperson added: "No one on the the marina had contact details for the owner nor did anyone near to the vessel.

"We can't stress enough how important it is to have your vessel registered to our CG66 system. It's a simple form to fill in with vessel keeper / details and can save a lot of time contacting you or next of kin in the event of an emergency."

To register your boat go to https://www.gov.uk/register-boat-coastguard-safety-scheme