Stricken sailors rescued in storm off Portland Bill (From Dorset Echo)

Stricken sailors rescued in storm off Portland Bill

10:00am Monday 8th June 2009

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TWO sailors were rescued after getting into difficulties in a force seven gale off Portland Bill.

The pair today praised Weymouth lifeboat crew who came to their aid in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Mark Eggleton, 52, and his nephew James Bryant were sailing the Scaf racing cruiser from Exeter to Brighton when their engines failed off the Dorset coast.

After an unsuccessful attempt to repair the engine at sea, Mr Eggleton called the coastguards, fearing the vessel would run aground on Chesil Beach.

Mr Eggleton, who is from Brighton and runs a telecommunications firm, said he and his nephew first hit difficulties off the coast at Abbotsbury.

He said: “We had engine problems. The engine kept stalling and stopping and eventually we just couldn’t get it going again at all.

“The second problem was that we had no sails and no secondary power.

“We had been sailing for around 13 hours by this point and for the last few hours we had been fighting very high winds and the tide.

“In the end I made a judgement call that we shouldn’t take a chance – we should call the coastguards and get a tow.”

Mr Eggleton, who used to work as a windsurfing instructor and has three years’ experience sailing yachts, made distress calls on the ship’s radio, which he said could not receive replies at the time.

He also made a mobile phone call to a friend onshore, who also contacted the emergency services.

Mr Eggleton added: “The lifeboat crew were phenomenal and very friendly.

“I knew I shouldn’t have been out with only one source of power, but no-one on the lifeboat had a go at us for that.

“They were still very hospitable and helpful and I can’t praise them enough.”

Mr Eggleton added that the Scaf, a Thompson T31 racing cruiser, will remain in Weymouth harbour until around Wednesday while further checks and repairs are made.

It will then finish its journey to Brighton.

Civil servant Mr Bryant, 24, of London, said: “By the time we had called the coastguards, we were freezing cold, soaking wet and feeling absolutely exhausted.

“This was my first time out sailing, so you could call it a baptism of fire I suppose, but it hasn’t put me off.”

James also praised Weymouth’s rescue crews, adding that the lifeboat crew was ‘fantastic’.

Weymouth lifeboat coxswain Andy Sargent said: “It was blowing six to seven and they hadn’t rigged the sail and were just motoring. They were quite cold and seasick and in a bit of difficulty.

“We took both off and put in two crewman and managed to get back into Weymouth around midnight.” A spokesman for Portland Coastguard said watchkeepers at the Bill’s lookout reported the Scaf ‘weakly’ making distress calls to the coastguard on channel 16.

He confirmed this was followed by a 999 call from Brixham Coastguard made by a friend of the stricken sailors.

The spokesman added: “The caller explained that the Scaf had suffered both sail and engine failure to the west of Portland and was adrift and in danger of grounding on Chesil Beach.

“Weymouth RNLI lifeboat launched and subsequently brought the casualty under tow into Weymouth.”

The vessel was met by Wyke coastguards in the harbour.

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