Atlantic rowing boat stranded on beach

Four rowers in an transatlantic rowing boat were forced to the shore after they got into trouble at sea.

HM Coastguard said it was made aware of a beached ocean rowing vessel in Southbourne, Bournemouth, at 09:45 BST on Sunday.

The Southbourne Coastguard Rescue Team, the RNLI Mudeford lifeboat and South Western Ambulance service attended the scene.

The coastguard said all rowers were recovered back to shore and one had suffered a leg injury.

It added that recovery of the vessel was being organised.

Mike Scott, 54, a business journalist, was out for a run and saw the incident from the Fisherman's Walk zigzag.

He said: "The wind was very strong and the waves were all over the place.

"I saw that the boat, which looked like one of those transatlantic rowing boats, looked to be struggling. The four people on board weren't rowing but just seemed to be waiting for the waves to push them ashore."

Mr Scott said it appeared that one of the rower's oars had broken.

"As the boat got closer to the shore, one of the men in the boat jumped off and tried to control it but a wave picked it up and threw the boat onto the beach, dumping the other three men out of the boat and onto the sand," he added.

The group managed to drag the boat up the beach and put out some anchors to stop it floating away, according to Mr Scott.

The boat was once part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, an annual event which starts every December and describes itself as "the world’s toughest row".

In 2016 a crew from the UK, Lee Felton and Sean Lannon, used this vessel to take part in the race.

The pair rowed 3,000 miles (4,800km) from the volcanic shores of San Sebastian de La Gomera in Spain to Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua.

They sold the boat after the race and the BBC does not know who currently owns the vessel.

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