SIXTEEN kayak instructors and coaches from Hampshire had to be plucked to safety in a dramatic rescue operation off the south coast.

The experienced group were swept into the notorious area of sea by Portland Bill in Dorset as darkness fell last night.

But a disaster was averted thanks to a slick rescue involving Weymouth’s two lifeboats, two rescue helicopters, coastguard teams and the HM Customs patrol boat Valiant.

All 16 kayakers from the Upper Hamble Canoe Club were safely picked up unharmed by lifeboat crews. A man and a woman were later airlifted to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester suffering shock and seasickness.

The lifeboats also managed to retrieve every kayak from the water.

The incident has echoes of the Lyme Bay disaster in 1993 when four teenagers died in a sea kayaking accident.

The kayakers involved in yesterday’s rescue did not want to comment as they were brought ashore and checked over by paramedics at Portland Marina last night.

They had set off from Portland Castle earlier in the day and made their way around the island to Chesil Cove before making the return journey in the afternoon. The group were equipped with radios and lifejackets and had notified coastguards of their trip.

Portland Coastguard received a mayday call just before 4pm as members of the group started getting into difficulty and become separated from each other. Members ‘rafted’ their kayaks together in different groups and waited for help. All stayed afloat despite the violent seas.

Lifeboats arrived to find the sea lit up by searchlights from the Portland and Solent coastguard helicopters and from Valiant, making the recovery operation easier.

Philip Chappell of Portland Coastguard said: “They got into trouble in an area which is the fiercest tidal race on the south coast.

“We’ve had big powerboats come to grief there so you can imagine what it would do to a kayak. A combination of tides and geography create a one-sided whirlpool.

“Questions need to be asked about expedition planning and timings.”

Coxswain of Weymouth Lifeboat Andy Sargent added: “The inshore lifeboat went to rescue three kayaks that had become separated.

“Once we had recovered everyone to the all-weather lifeboat we set about recovering the kayaks.

“I’m very pleased with the job, we got everyone back and the kayaks too.”