Survivors cling to upturned hull Selsey's Tyne class lifeboat City of London was called to the rescue of three Dutch sailors on 2 June 1993 when their 34ft yacht lost its ballast keel and capsized off Selsey during a fierce squall in the early hours of the morning.

The crew of the yacht, on passage from Hamble to Rotterdam, did not have time to send a distress signal nor don lifejackets and had been clinging to the upturned hull for four hours before being spotted by the crews of two fishing vessels.

Having taken the survivors aboard the fishermen notified the coastguard, and the Selsey lifeboat launched at 0512 to bring the three people ashore. They were transferred to the lifeboat and then landed at the boathouse from where they were taken by ambulance to hospital for a check-up. All three were unhurt but extremely cold.

Honorary Secretary Clive Cockayne told the local newspaper they had been incredibly lucky as the sea was very calm and there was little wind: 'Even at this time of the year it can be very cold and rough off Selsey. They are very lucky to be alive.' The lifeboat later returned to the casualty and towed her into Chichester Harbour, where she was craned out of the water with surprisingly little damage apart from a broken mast and the missing keel..