TWO men who went sailing without any safety equipment were pulled from the water off Penclawdd after their boat capsized and they were left clinging to the bow.
Crew members of the Loughor Inshore Lifeboat, who were just setting down to a summer barbecue with family and friends when they received the emergency call out, say the two Swansea men were lucky to be reached in time - and would have been swept away had they remained there much longer.
Neither of them were wearing life jackets.
John Edwards, from the Loughor Inshore Lifeboat, said it was vital that people going out on the water were fully equipped.
"The two men had gone out without life jackets, or mobile phones or any safety precautions.
"It was a real rush to get down there, and we went flying down - we were there in less than eight minutes.
"The two men were in the water holding onto the bow.
"The men's hands were white from hanging on."
The incident, which happened just before 6pm on Sunday evening just off Crofty point, involved a 17ft sailing boat which had capsized and was under water with the bow and mast only showing.
Men on two rigid inflatable cockle boats rushed to the stricken boat, and held the men by their forearms to stop them from being carried off by the ebbing tide.
A lifeboat crew member jumped into the water to attach lines to the boat to bring it ashore, while another took control of the broken boom to the mast of the stricken yacht, to release water trapped in the sail causing the yacht to nearly turn over during the ebbing tide.
The second Loughor lifeboat also attended and transferred the two casualties to shore, where coastguards were waiting with stern warnings on why they should have been wearing life jackets.
The stricken yacht, Tulisi, remained moored off at Crofty, still capsized.
Witness Brian Davies, who had been on a jet ski on the water, said: "If the tide had turned the pair would have been goners.
"Once the rip starts they would have had it.
"They were very, very fortunate men.
"The lifeboat crew were life-savers".
The incident has prompted coastguards to issue a warning to water users to be well prepared when going out onto the water.
David Jones, watch manager at Swansea Coastguard in Mumbles, said: "If you are going out on the water in anything, such as a boat, water bike or kayak, you should always be well prepared. You should check the tides and the weather conditions, and take buoyancy aids, as well as some form of communication so you can raise the alarm.
"A VHF radio is better than a mobile phone, as phones can lose reception pretty quickly, and when you call out on the radio other vessels can hear you.
"It sounds as though these two men were very lucky".
