Three crew rescued from dangerous sea conditions near Chichester

A small yacht ran aground off West Wittering beach on Sunday morning before the crew struggled ashore but then found themselves in trouble later that day.

Those on the boat were forced to call for help after getting into difficulty when trying to reach deeper water.

Strong winds and waves made conditions ‘impossible’ before they called for help.

‘Both Hayling RNLI Lifeboats were launched and made passage to the casualty. The D-Class lifeboat arrived first and put a crewman on board who assessed the conditions before it was agreed it was too rough to transfer the crew who had no life jackets or safety equipment on board,’ a spokesman for Hayling RNLI said.

A tow took the yacht and crew into deeper water before arriving in Chichester Harbour where they needed further help after realising they were out of fuel.

‘We urge all boat users to wear life jackets at all times,’ the spokesman added.