Large crowds of onlookers gathered at Burnham-On-Sea’s Sailing Club on Friday afternoon when a huge crane lifted yachts from the town’s boat yard into the River Brue.
The annual ‘crane-in’ is held every year at this time when boats of all sizes are lifted from the safety of the sheltered yard into the river for the start of the sailing season.
On Friday, 17 boats were winched into the sky by a huge crane and then carried several hundred metres to the sandy beach next to the river. The boats are then moved over to the Sailing Club’s pontoons on the next high tide.
Sailing Club President Tony Winterburn, pictured above, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It’s a spectacle that always draws big crowds.”
“The boats get lifted down to the pontoons in April and are lifted back into our boat yard in a similar event at the end of the sailing season in October.”
Dozens of residents and holidaymakers watched the event in brilliant sunshine on Friday afternoon.
A BBC Points West TV camera crew was also on hand to record the event for a feature in a news bulletin.
