TWO lifeboat crews were launched to assist a 25-foot yacht that had dismasted off the Kent coast.

Initially, Whitstable Lifeboat went to the stricken Dutch sloop Pollewop, which had two people on board four miles off Whitstable at around 1pm on Wednesday.

Two members of the crew boarded the yacht to help secure the masts.

The lifeboat towed the vessel towards the River Medway while they waited for assistance from the Sheerness all-weather lifeboat.

The yacht was eventually towed into Queenborough by the Sheerness crew.