THREE men were thrown overboard when a huge wave engulfed their dinghy.

The dinghy was swamped by waves at St. Gabriel’s Steps, near Golden Cap.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched shortly before 7pm on Friday after coastguards from Lyme Regis and West Bay Coastguard Rescue Teams reported three people in the water after a dinghy capsized.

Members of the volunteer lifeboat crew who responded to their pager alert included seven who had just started to take part in a charity cricket match at Uplyme on the evening of lifeboat week.

The three men have been praised by the RNLI for their text book response to the drama - all were wearing lifejackets and managed to swim safely ashore.

The lifeboat crew located the men on the shore along with their beached dinghy just east of St Gabriel's. Due to the tide and the rocky shoreline, the lifeboat was unable to approach so a crew member swam ashore to conduct welfare checks.

Coastguard officers from West Bay and Lyme Regis met at Charmouth and a team was sent up the beach carrying blankets and spare clothing to meet the casualties and lifeboat crewman. All were then escorted to Charmouth and taken back to the lifeboat station in Lyme Regis where family members were waiting.

Ken Lavery, deputy launching authority at the lifeboat station, said: "The young men responded to their dilemma in an exemplary manner. All wore lifejackets, they kept each other in sight as they swam ashore, one had a kill cord attached to his ankle so their outboard engine stopped, and they even removed the petrol tank to avoid pollution. It was text book stuff.”

Owner of the 3.8m inflatable James Chambers, 23, from Leatherhead, Surrey, was visiting Dorset with his fiancé Georgie, also 23, for their engagement party. The other two aboard the dinghy were James’ brother Harry, 19, and friend James Goodall, 23, also from Surrey.

James Chambers said:”We were hit by a big wave at the back of the dinghy and we were all tipped out. We were about 100metres from the beach. We swam ashore and we were all fine.”

It was discovered the boat had suffered an engine failure before it was overcome by waves close to the shore.

As well as wearing lifejackets, the men had put out a mayday call using a handheld marine VHF radio.