Yacht abandoned on rocks

A lone skipper whose boat had run aground on a treacherous ledge was rescued by the lifeboat after his crew scrambled ashore to safety.

His 30ft yacht had run aground on Beachy Head Ledge and was taking on water at an alarming rate. The skipper had ‘misjudged the tides and currents’ according to the RNLI and had struck the submerged ledge and become holed.

Inshore lifeboat crew managed to drop the yacht’s sails and thus reduce the pressure on the hull but she was too badly damaged for salvage pumps to get her afloat again and the yacht was abandoned.

Deck gear and personal equipment was taken aboard the all-weather lifeboat which returned the shaken yacht’s skipper to Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne where he was reunited with his crew.