Two crew members aboard a 32ft yacht were rescued today after it smashed into a harbour arm and sank.
The yacht's skipper had been given the vessel as a birthday present by his wife.
Lifeboat crews desperately tried to pump water out of the yacht, called Dragonfly, as the crew was transferred to the Eastbourne inshore lifeboat.
Officials at Sovereign Harbour notified Dover Coastguard just before 6.15am after spotting the vessel aground on the north harbour arm entrance in Eastbourne.
When the offshore and inshore lifeboats arrived, they found the yacht had hit the harbour arm and was taking in water.
The inshore lifeboat team took an emergency pump on board as the two crew members were transferred.
However, after 15 minutes of pumping the yacht's keel split in half and the vessel eventually sank.
The lifeboats returned to the station just after 7am. The two rescued men were given blankets and cups of tea but were unhurt.
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