DOVER and Walmer lifeboat crews were called out on Saturday to go to the aid of a 60-foot racing yacht Team Heiner 1 which had run aground on the Goodwin Sands.

The alarm was raised just after 9am when the yacht, returning to Holland after competing in Cowes Week, struck the sands, stranding the nine people on board.

Dover coxswain Duncan Mackay and his crew used the Y boat to approach the yacht, and, with the help of Walmer inshore lifeboat crew, they secured a tow rope on the yacht.

But due to the falling tide, it was not possible to refloat the vessel until 3pm.

As Dover lifeboat pulled the yacht clear, a second call was received from a 45-foot motor cruiser Esperanza which had total engine failure four and a half miles off Dover in the main south west shipping lane.

The cruiser, with three people on board, was on passage was from Zeebrugge to the Isle of Wight.

While Walmer lifeboat escorted the yacht back to Dover, Dover lifeboat went to the aid of the motor cruiser which was also towed back to Dover Marina.

No-one was injured.