Four rescued from sea after yacht ran aground

Caister Lifeboat were called off shore to reports of yacht that had ran aground at about 17:00 BST on Wednesday

Four people have been rescued after their yacht ran aground in one of the most "dramatic" incidents a lifeboat service said it had ever seen.

Caister Lifeboat said it was called to reports of people abandoning a yacht on a sand bank and boarding their life raft five miles off the coast of Scroby Sands, Norfolk, at about 17:00 BST on Wednesday.

Florian Pruckner, 29, from Austria, Simon Bruhn, 28, from Denmark, Halfdan Steenholdt, 24, from Denmark and Nora Vogt, 20, from Germany were later pulled from the sea by the lifeboat.

Richard Thurlow, joint coxswain of Caister Lifeboat, said: "We have all witnessed one of the most dramatic rescues we have seen in many years."

Mr Pruckner, the yacht's skipper, said the experience was "very frightening".

"It could have all gone very wrong very quickly and it did to some degree.

"I am just grateful that we all came off it without any major injuries," he added.

Florian Pruckner, Simon Bruhn, Nora Vogt and Halfdan Steenholdt were onboard the vessel

When the lifeboat reached the Argo Navis vessel the crew found the yacht's life raft empty, which prompted an emergency search of the sea for the group on board.

They group were travelling from Odense, Denmark, to Cape Verde before planning to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean islands.

Ms Vogt said "it felt like an eternity" seeing the lifeboats approaching, adding that they were "very uncertain" on what to do.

All four members of the crew said they would return to sailing at some point.

Crews said the four people did not board their life raft after it had gone adrift

The Caister Inshore Lifeboat and the Medina Class All Weather vessel were launched alongside Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Gorleston and a HM Coastguard Helicopter from Lydd, Kent.

RNLI Gorleston transferred the group to the Caister All Weather vessel where they received a medical assessment at the shore.

Mr Thurlow said: "The four people on board were in extreme danger and we were fearing the worst.

"Attempts to make contact with the yacht to establish how many casualties were on board, if any, was extremely difficult," he added.

"Thankfully the crew made the sensible choice to stay with the vessel, as this undoubtedly saved their lives."

John McLennan and Ben Penning from RNLI Gorleston were involved in the rescue mission

Ben Penning, a crew member with RNLI Gorleston, said: "Trying to get close [to the crew] was very difficult due to very confused seas.

"We actually hit the bottom at one point and realise we could not get close enough to extract them from the vessel," he added.

Mr Penning said "within a few seconds of [the yacht] sinking" they were able to grab hold of the people and pull them on the lifeboat.