A 102ft rigger boat with six people on board was rescued last night in gale force winds.

Eastbourne’s all-weather lifeboat Diamond Jubilee was called upon last night at around midnight to assist an historic 105 tonne sailing vessel which was dragging its anchor off Sovereign Harbour.

Earlier in the day the brigantine square rigger Lady of Avenel had sailed from Poole in Dorset for an overnight stay in Sovereign Harbour.

On its approach to harbour the vessel suffered engine failure and was unable to enter the shelter of the marina unaided.

The crew dropped anchor off Langney Point whilst they attempted to make repairs.

With the strong south western wind forecast to increase to gale force, the vessel’s anchor began to drag threatening to drive the ship onto nearby rocks.

The skipper requested urgent assistance from HM Coastguard.

Aware of the vessel’s predicament, the volunteer lifeboat crew had already assembled and were able to launch the moment the request was received. A towline was passed to the struggling vessel and Coxswain Mark Sawyer manoeuvred the lifeboat to take the strain off the anchor chains so that the anchors could be retrieved.

The combined length of the casualty and the lifeboat was greater than the harbour locks so a straightforward tow into the locks was not possible and an alternative had to be sought.

The increasing wind strength made entry into the locks virtually impossible so Coxswain Mark decided to use the lifeboat’s permanent mooring buoys in the outer harbour as a temporary refuge for the boat.

After over two hours of work from the lifeboat crew it was eventually made safe on the lifeboat moorings.

The grateful skipper commended the professionalism and skilful conduct of the volunteer crew before settling down to safely ride out the storm.