A man who went missing yesterday morning when a dinghy capsized in Poole Harbour has still not been recovered.

The man in his 30s disappeared under the water after the seven foot tender overturned around 10.17am on Sunday while on route to a fishing boat moored in the harbour. Two other men with him were recovered and treated for severe hyperthermia

A wide-scale search was called off after three hours and coastguards said today it would not resume unless fresh information came to light.

A spokesman for Portland Coastguard said: "The search was terminated and the matter is now in the hands of the police.

"We are keeping a look out today in the course of our routine activities but, in terms of an official search, unless any new information comes to light we have nothing else to go on. We are taking it hour by hour."

Yesterday rescuers found one man clinging to a buoy, and the second was pulled from open water.

It has been said that none of the men were wearing lifejackets.

Lifeboats from Swanage and private boats joined a major search effort, alongside RNLI volunteers who were responsible for the coastline and the Portland Coastguard’s helicopter.

Helmsman of Poole’s inshore lifeboat, Gavin McGuinness, said: “In the area where we found the dinghy, the water was about a metre and a half deep.

“When we arrived, the helicopter was already lifting the two out of the water. When it began to fly back to land, they called to say they’d just been told a third person was still in the water. He had gone sub-surface while the other two were clinging on to the wreckage.”

Lifeboats completed a full area search while a second helicopter used infra-red to try and find the man.

Mr McGuinness said: “We put one person in the water to see if he had gone under the dinghy, but unfortunately we couldn’t find him.”

Poole Lifeboat coxswain Jonathan Clark said search parties have done everything possible to find the missing man, and boats may be called out again to aid with the search.
“If the Coastguard deems it to be necessary, we will go out again,” he said.

“If they get information that could lead to him being in a different position in the area we’ll be called out to try and find him. But we have been searching quite a small area, and we’ve covered that area eight to 10 times today.”

Dom Fraser, who is a member of the North Haven Yacht Club at Sandbanks, said he’d heard the men shouting for help as they clung to the dinghy.

Poole Hospital's acting manager Andy Martin said the two men who were rescued from the water were both discharged within four hours.

The missing man is described as 5ft 8in, slim build with short light brown hair.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset police on 101.