The volunteer crew of Yarmouth RNLI rushed to the aid of a hovercraft that had begun to sink off The Needles earlier this afternoon (Thursday).
Conditions in the western Solent were fair with a calm sea state and good visibility, however 1 of 4 domestic hovercraft on an outing from Lee-on-Solent ran into trouble at shortly before 13:40 when it hit a rogue wave, which caused structural damage and subsequent loss of power. This resulted in the vessel taking on water and capsizing.
Upon arriving on scene the Yarmouth RNLI lifeboat retrieved 1 man overboard from the beach at Alum Bay, then proceeded around The Needles to Scratchell’s Bay to recover the capsized vessel.
The lifeboat’s on-board inflatable Y boat was launched and 2 RNLI crew members went into the water to right the hovercraft, which was then craned aboard the All Weather Lifeboat (ALB) and recovered to Yarmouth Harbour.
