Sailors on a vintage yacht had to be rescued after their vessel got stranded on a sandbank.

Lowestoft lifeboat was called at 4.23pm on Tuesday, August 6, to go to the aid of the yacht which had run aground off the Suffolk coast.

The service launched its relief lifeboat ‘Eric’s Legend’ and crew could see the stranded yacht as soon as they left the pierheads.

Coxswain John Fox said: "It was well aground on the Newcome Sands. The three crew members were still with the vessel and a safety boat was standing by until we arrived.”

A yacht stranded off the Suffolk coast on August 6. A yacht stranded off the Suffolk coast on August 6. (Image: Mick Howes)

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The yacht was a wooden built ‘Broads One Design’ known as a ‘Brown Boat‘ and it was firmly aground with the tide falling.

Mr Fox put on a dry suit and waded across the sandbank to talk to the sailors.

They told him the yacht was built in 1937 and that they had been taking part in the local yacht club’s Sea Week races, and they had been sailing all day.

Lowestoft lifeboat rescued three crew members from a yacht that ran aground on August 6. Lowestoft lifeboat rescued three crew members from a yacht that ran aground on August 6. (Image: Mick Howes)

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Mr Fox said: “I stressed that it would not be possible to pull the yacht off the sand straight away without doing a lot of damage.

"The yacht has a big keel and rudder which had become embedded in the sand.”

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After assessing the situation, the coxswain decided the safest way to assist the sailors was to wait for the tide to rise and then to gently tow the yacht off the sand.

In the meantime, the three yacht crew, two men and a woman, were transferred to the lifeboat using an inflatable ‘X’ boat and taken back to the harbour – while Mr Fox remained with the stranded yacht and waited for the tide to flood up.

Just before 8pm, the yacht began floating and with a line attached it was slowly towed into the yacht marina where the crew were met with cheers and applause from the sailors on shore.