A SAILOR has been asked to stay on dry land after the coastguard was forced to rescue him nine times in the past month.

Tim Freeman, 24, has sparked several rescue operations off the Dorset coastline after his 24ft yacht was seen to drift dangerously close to the shoreline. The lifeboat was called again after the same accident-prone sailor got a rope caught around his propeller off Swanage.

The volunteer crew decided to escort the solo sailor, who has no navigational charts, into nearby Poole Harbour only for him to get lost soon after they left his side.

In a separate incident, Mr Freeman dialled 999 after steering down the wrong channel of water near Wareham Quay, but a passing jet-skier managed to tow him in the right direction. The 24-year-old sailor has claimed that he has undertaken sailing lessons in Plymouth since his first boat was impounded in Littlehampton but would not comment further.