The crew from RNLI Mudeford on their way to rescue the man. Credit: Facebook/RNLI Mudeford

A Bulgarian man - bizarrely armed with a map of Southampton - had to be rescued after trying to sail from Dorset to America in a 14ft dinghy.

The 30-year-old would-be sailor had to be dragged from his vessel by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crew after being told he would die if he carried on.

All the amateur had on board with him was a bag of biscuits, beans and hot dogs.

One of his rescuers Pete Dadds, 41, said: "He didn't have a life jacket, just a buoyancy aid, and the vessel didn't have any lights. We said 'if we leave you, you will die'."