The yacht had tipped flat onto the sea when a crew member climbed the mast to try to free the recalcitrant sail, resulting in him crashing into the water.
The yacht, with five people aboard, had gone hard aground at the entrance of Beaulieu River when, thanks the gravitational pull of the moon, there was an exceptionally low tide.
As well as the Bembridge and Cowes lifeboats, the marina line-up included craft from Hayling Island, Portsmouth, Calshot, Lymington, Gosport and Ryde and members of the Freshwater and Sandown stations arrived by road.