Eleven people were rescued by the RNLI Brighton lifeboat yesterday after four call-outs as thousands flocked to the beaches and hundreds took to the sea.
Four people were towed back to Brighton Marina in their speedboat when the engine conked out shortly before 10am. They had been stranded between the piers.
Another four people who had been wakeboarding were towed back to the marina when they couldn’t restart the engine of their motorboat. They were reached by the RNLI at about 2.30pm south of the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove.
Two fishermen were towed home from a mile south of the Palace Pier straight afterwards – before the lifeboat crew had even made it back to their boathouse.
They were in a dory fishing vessel and tried to restart their engine when the pull cord snapped off.
As the crew were towing the fishing vessel back to the marina, they came across another motor boat signalling for help.
The single-handed boat was securely at anchor and not in immediate danger so the lifeboat crew towed the fishing vessel to the marina before heading straight back out.
They completed what turned out to be their final rescue of a hot and sunny day at 4.15pm, having spent more than three hours at sea in calm conditions with good to excellent visibility.
