Two kayakers who launched with no life jackets and leaking equipment had to be rescued by volunteers yesterday.

The boys, who were only wearing swimming trunks and had no radio, found themselves in trouble and drifting out to sea, capsizing repeatedly.

Fortunately they were spotted by volunteers from Portreath Surf Life Saving carrying out a patrol of the beach, who raised the alarm.

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Paul Skinner was the first responder, who managed to get them onto Gul Rock in difficult conditions, followed by Tim Widdershoven and Steve Bowens with a first aid kit.

St Agnes RNLI was called and a crew arrived within 12 mins with the inflatable rib.

The boys were taken into the beach, where the rest of the Portreath team had cleared the area.

Portreath Coastguard Team was also there to assist.

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A surf life saving club spokesperson said: "Two people launched out of the harbour on sit-on kayaks wearing only their trunks, no buoyancy aids and no radio.

"They were clearly in trouble in a strong off shore wind, capsizing repeatedly, drifting out to sea, and one of their kayaks had a leak which made it unstable.

"Everything went so well and we all followed protocol. The boys rescued were local and shocked how they got into difficulty so quickly."