A yacht has sunk after running aground on Dorset’s Peveril Ledge in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A man in his 60s and a woman in her 40s were on board the 36ft Hunter Legend at the time when a 1ft square hole was ripped into the side of the hull after it hit rocks.

The pair sent out a Mayday call at 0520 and were rescued by the RNLI before the boat was eventually fully submerged at 0930 yesterday.

They had been sailing Summer Song from Southampton to Poole when it hit the ledge near Swanage.

The woman was checked over by paramedics for a possible back injury after being jarred in the collision, but she was not found to be seriously hurt.

Dave Turnbull, station mechanic at Swanage RNLI, said: ‘They were out in the early hours so that the woman could get some night sailing experience.

‘We understand they were sailing along quite happily from Southampton heading towards Poole, with the skipper at the helm when it happened.

‘They heard a bang and lost the steering, then got pushed onto the rocks at Peveril Ledge.

‘We took the all-weather lifeboat with seven crew members, and our inshore lifeboat with three, to rescue them. They managed to climb into the inshore lifeboat and we took them safely to dry land, where they watched the yacht go down.

‘There was a hole about half a metre square in the side. It’s completely under water now. There were a few bits and pieces floating around, but everything else on board has gone down.’

To view a video of RNLI Swanage’s rescue click here.

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All pictures courtesy of RNLI Swanage.