The volunteer crew was paged at about 12.40pm following a call from the coastguard lookout tower, reporting that a dinghy with a man on board had become grounded and was unable to get to shore. Littlehampton RNLI’s D Class lifeboat Ray of Hope launched at 12.50pm with volunteers Andy Harris, Lee Cullen and Ivan Greer on board, and headed out in a calm sea and fine weather conditions. On arrival at the scene the lifeboat came alongside the dinghy where the sailor was searching for the dinghy’s boom which had been lost and had caused him to lose control of the sails, a spokesperson for the RNLI said. The lifeboat crew rigged a tow line to the dinghy in preparation for its recovery and return journey to the Arun Yacht Club, where it was safely secured. The lifeboat returned to the station at 1.30pm where it was refuelled and made ready for service. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage 2) Like our Facebook page 3) Follow us on Twitter 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! Always the first with your local news. Be part of it.