TWO yachtsmen had to be rescued after being thrown overboard when their sailing dinghy capsized off Leysdown on Sunday.

Both men spent 40 minutes in the water and had to be treated for mild hypothermia after being picked up by the Whitstable lifeboat.

The lifeboat, Oxford Town and Gown, was launched at 1.20pm after being alerted by coastguards.

One yachtsman was found alongside the dinghy about three-quarters of a mile off Leysdown and the other was located 200 yards away. The men, one from Barham, near, Canterbury, and the other from Beckenham, were both very cold.

The lifeboat crew asked for an ambulance to meet them on shore where the yachtsmen were treated for hypothermia. The lifeboat then returned to sea to recover the dinghy before returning to Whitstable.