Lyme lifeboat launched after speedboat is swamped by waves.

Plans for a barbecue and a night camping on the beach went disastrously wrong for a young couple on Friday night (June 29).

A man and his girlfriend in their 30s, from Colyton, were trying to beach their 14ft speedboat when it was swamped by waves and holed on rocks at Charton Bay, west of Lyme Regis.

They were rescued by the volunteer crew of the Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat after the man raised the alarm with his mobile phone. The lifeboat crew was paged to launch at about 10.30pm

The speedboat’s skipper, who did not want to be named, said: “We both tried for about two hours to get the water out of the boat, but in the end it was a write-off and I had to call for the lifeboat.

“We had set up the barbecue, but I am afraid we never got anything to eat. We were very relieved to see the lifeboat crew who did a great job.”

The couple were taken to safety from the beach by the lifeboat crew who also pumped out the speedboat and towed it into Lyme Regis harbour at 11.45pm