Four crew were airlifted from a floundering training boat after
being struck with sea sickness in storm force 11 conditions. A distress signal
was launched when the sail training vessel got into trouble at the height of the storms on
Wednesday morning.

The steering broke on Liquid Vortex and she got into trouble three miles off Dungeness
point, where all but one of the crew were suffering with debilitating sea
sickness.

The conditions were so dangerous that RNLI coxswain Mark
Richardson couldn’t transfer a lifeboat crew member onto the training vessel.

Dover RNLI came to help the Dungeness crew with the rescue
because it was too dangerous to tow her alone.

“The volunteer crews of both Dungeness and Dover showed no
fear in launching in what were horrendous conditions to assist the crew of this
vessel,” said Allen Head, Training Divisional Inspector for the RNLI in the
East. “Those aboard certainly had a baptism of fire, being out in such weather,
but our crews did everything possible to bring them ashore safely.”