Follow-up to Tyke's post: they did not make it.   Following taken from BBC local news. The sea takes no prisoners.

"An marine accident inquiry has begun into the deaths of three people whose boat capsized in "atrocious" seas off the North Yorkshire coast.

Two men and a woman who were rescued later died after the 24ft cabin cruiser, Last Call, overturned and sank just outside Whitby Harbour on Friday.

A force eight gale warning was in place and the sea swell was 20-30ft high.

Rescuers were praised for their efforts to save the people, who were thought to be from Redcar.

High seas had earlier forced Scarborough Council to seal off the West Pier.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has begun a preliminary examination into the capsize at abotu 1215 GMT.

A Whitby RNLI spokesman said the cruiser went out in "atrocious weather conditions".

        
Witnesses have commented on the brave actions of the Whitby lifeboat crew and the helicopter crew, both operating in very challenging circumstances
North Yorkshire Police

A coastguard spokesman said: "The cruiser appears to have left Whitby Harbour and got into difficulties about 100 yards from the sea wall."

Lifeboat workers could see 16ft (5m) waves crashing into the boat as it headed out of the harbour.

They tried three times to radio the vessel warning it to turn back, without making contact.

"Soon after leaving the harbour the boat was seen attempting to turn around but capsized in the rough seas," the RNLI spokesman said.

Coastguards received a 999 call from the woman on board after the two men were swept overboard.

The lifeboat rescued the men 100 yards from the West Pier.

A rescue helicopter from RAF Leconfield pulled the woman from the sea and took her to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Killer sea

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Witnesses have commented on the brave actions of the Whitby lifeboat crew and the helicopter crew, both operating in very challenging circumstances."

A man and the woman died soon after the rescue and the second man died after several hours in hospital.

Roy Weatherill, Whitby RNLI lifeboat operations manager, said: "The lifeboat launched very quickly and the crew did an absolutely magnificent job to recover the two people from the water."

"The guys tried to give mouth-to-mouth and first aid, that was their priority until the paramedics took over.

"They are naturally very upset."

Mike Bill, rescue co-ordination centre manager at Humber Coastguard, warned people to be wary of going out on to rough seas.

"We can only warn again that the sea is a killer and that in these very rough conditions individuals must be aware of the risks that they take when approaching or going out on the sea," he said.

A spokesman for the Whitby Watchkeepers, a voluntary organisation that provides back-up for coastguards, said that no other boats had left the harbour yesterday."