TWO men were hailed as the heroes of a boating tragedy off Teignmouth in October 1988.

Although they were unable to save the life of a 36-year-old Exeter father, Len Butler, the pair rescued five people, including four children, after a cabin cruiser capsized at the notorious river entrance.

The head of Teignmouth’s auxiliary coastguard, John Hook, who co-ordinated a search operation for the dead man, was full of praise for the efforts of Peter Full, 33, and Steve Mortimore, 31.

‘They did extremely well in tricky conditions. It was tremendously lucky they were there at the time and reacted so well, or it would have been a major tragedy,’ he said.

‘With an easterly wind blowing, the Teignmouth bar is always always at its worst for about two-and-a-half hours before low tide.’

The two rescuers were on board a 19-ft Orkney fishing boat when they saw the cruiser Kyle Missed capsize.

‘We could see people in the water and three youngsters clinging to the overturned hull,’ Mr Mortimer said.

‘I headed straight for them but there were some of the biggest waves I have seen on the bar for some time and we took in a lot of water.

‘During the rescue we were nearly capsized and the same thing almost happened when we had the five on board heading into harbour. The boat was half filled with water, and it was only our buoyancy tanks that kept us afloat.

‘Peter managed to pull them all in with difficulty. One girl was in a very bad way and said something like “Where’s my dad”. Much longer in the water and she would have gone.

‘A wave swept some of the youngsters off the hull, and it was lucky that we were so close at hand when it happened.

‘Some of the youngsters had white rope wrapped around them, as if one of the fathers had tried to lash them together.

Another boat on the scene with three Bristol men on board joined the rescue, but also overturned. The trio were wearing lifejackets and were able to scramble onto a sandbar until rescued by the inshore lifeboat.

Mr Full recalled that one girl he grabbed was going under. ‘Her head was under the water and all I could see was her hair, which I grabbed, and I pulled her aboard. the others manged to cling to the side of the boat, but we only ever saw five people in the water.’

The five rescued were given showers and dry clothes at the home of Lesley Burton, wife of an auxiliary, before being taken by ambulance to the local hospital for a check-up.

An RAF Wessex helicopter from Chivenor, the Exmouth lifeboat, local rescue boat Restless, and other craft, scoured the area for more than an hour before the body of Mr Butler was found near the Point car park.

The Kyle Missed washed up on the beach, along with lifejackets and other articles.

The 15-ft craft was brought down by trailer, and conditions were were calm when it was launched in the shelter of the River Teign.

But there was a different story at the estuary entrance. It was the worst possible scenario – an ebb tide meeting an easterly swell, whipping up big waves on the shallow sandbar.

The dead man was a prison officer, and a stalwart of the Heavitree Football Club. But for a hamstring injury, he would have been playing that Saturday afternoon instead of going on the fateful trip.

The Exeter Prison governor said he was very popular and all the staff were in a state of shock.