A WINDSURFER was left drifting out to sea in 30-knot winds when his equipment broke at the weekend.

The male windsurfer was taking advantage of the winds at Minnis Bay, Thanet, with two other boarders from a surf club when the accident happened, just before 4pm on Saturday.

With the light failing he was quickly driven more than a mile out to sea towards the Margate Hook sands.

Peter Overton, of Margate Coastguard, said: "Once something breaks in those conditions they have got no chance at all and no way of getting back.

"There were three of them out there and the reason the other two guys panicked and called us is they lost sight of the windsurfer while they were getting their equipment - the conditions were so bad.

"We called out the Margate all-weather and inshore boats and it still took 40 minutes to find him.

"If it had been an hour later with the light failing it would have been much more serious. We would also have got the helicopter out if we hadn’t picked him up so soon."

In the end the windsurfing club’s safety boat found him and the inshore lifeboat brought him back to safety.

Mr Overton said: "The conditions were marginal but there were several of them about. If he had been on his own or with just one other it could have been very dangerous."