A yacht trying to make its way back to Brighton Marina ran aground last night, sparking a five-hour mission to get it back to sea.
The Laureen sailed into shallow waters at Rottingdean and beached itself shortly after 11pm, with Brighton RNLI and Newhaven Coastguard called out at 11.15pm.
Nobody was hurt, but with bad weather forecast this week, the RNLI decided to wait until the tides had turned to get her back into the water and safely berthed at the marina.
Roger Cohen, Brighton RNLI lifeboat operations manager, said: “We got passed a report of a yacht aground at Rottingdean and there was one person on board.
“The tide was going out so the lifeboat remained off shore. Because the weather was going to get worse today with the wind increasing, it was decided to tow the yacht to safety in conjunction with the Newhaven Coastguard and volunteer lifeboat crew.
“We were there until about 5am – we had to wait for the tide to turn and the water to get round the yacht before we could put a tow rope on it and for it to be deep enough to sail off.
“We put two volunteer crew members on to the yacht with the skipper and prepare the tow line and once there was enough water we were able to get her into the deeper water, with the assistance of the skipper and berth at Brighton Marina while the lifeboat and Newhaven Coastguard were standing by.
“We are unsure how it got aground. The marina entrance is well lit, and it’s got proper navigation markers.”
