WHOOPS! There are places to run your yacht aground without attracting a crowd - and there is Weston Shore, Southampton.

Passers-by gathered to watch after the 30ft Olympian Challenger became beached.

Eyewitness Simon Heron, 42, of Hedge End, who took the photograph above, was on his way to work yesterday when he saw the craft lying on its side in the shallow water.

He said: "It looked as if it had sailed out of the fog and hit the beach. The tide was out quite a distance. "Coastguards were already on the beach calling to see if anybody was on the boat and eventually three people appeared from below deck looking sheepish."

A Coastguard spokewoman said the yacht was refloated when the tide came back in at 1pm and the craft sailed off in the direction of Weymouth.