A man in his late twenties was thrown into the sea when he capsized in a designated jet-ski area off Eastney Beach, Portsmouth, yesterday (March 15).

He was stranded in the water unable to restart the jet-ski because water had flooded the engine.

After a short while in the water, a fishing boat came to the man's aid and pulled him aboard.

RNLI Portsmouth's Atlantic 75 lifeboat, which had been launched at 11.20am from the Eastney lifeboat station on a crew training exercise, was returning at 1pm when they spotted the drifting jet-ski.

They were approached by a second jet-skier who told them that his friend had fallen off his craft and had been in the sea a while before being rescued by the fishing boat.

The casualty, who was cold and shaken after his experience, was transferred from the fishing boat to the lifeboat and the jet-ski was taken in tow to the safety of the Eastney public slipway.

Volunteer helmsman, Tobi O'Neill said, 'This was a straight forward rescue where the casualty had proper safety equipment.

'He was in company with another jet-skier who was able to give assistance and, by good fortune, we were close at hand to help. The jet-skier recovered as we towed his craft back to Langstone Harbour and he was able to assist us with the recovery of his craft at the public slipway.

'This incident came to a successful conclusion because basic safety precautions had been taken by those involved in the incident.'

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