Overdue Dutch yacht helped by Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat crew
The solo sailor on a Dutch yacht which was giving cause for concern as it had been at sea for three days and couldn’t be contacted - has been located and towed to safety by Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat
Lifeboat Coxswain John Fox said “the 32 foot yacht named ‘Unity’ had left Den Helder in The Netherland on Friday and was heading for Lowestoft. But when the vessel failed to arrive, a concerned relative called the coastguard and asked for help to contact the skipper. They broadcast a radio message to all vessels in the area and a Dutch coastguard aircraft was also sent to try to locate the missing vessel and successfully spotted the becalmed yacht.”
“The volunteer crew of our Shannon class lifeboat Patsy Knight were paged just after 6.15pm on Sunday and we launched straight away to help the stranded vessel. The yacht was 14 miles east of Lowestoft and it took us just over half an hour, going through patchy fog, to reach her. The sailor was pleased to see us and told us that he had been at sea for three days and had become becalmed and was just drifting around. He had resorted to using his auxiliary engine but with only a small capacity had run out of fuel. He didn’t realise that the coastguard were trying to contact him as his radio only had a limited range – but when he saw the coastguard aircraft overhead - he managed to make radio contact.”
Having connected a towline to the Dutch yacht, the RNLI charity’s lifeboat took just under three hours to bring the disabled vessel back into the harbour where it was moored at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk yacht club and met by the Lowestoft and Southwold Coastguard Rescue Team.
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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