Falmouth RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew assist yacht during bad weather

Highly windy conditions led to the request for the assistance of the RNLI crew to a yacht in difficulty.

At 12.04am on 27 December Falmouth RNLI volunteer crew were paged to assist with a yacht struggling with the strong winds. Responding to the shout were Luke Wills (coxswain), Andy Jenkin, Dave Nicoll, Tom Bird, Adam West, Jonathan Hackwell, Sandy Procter, Claire Angove and Neil Capper.

With force 10 north westerly gales and moderate waves in Falmouth harbour, the volunteer crew responded to a 40ft vessel bouncing against the pontoon at the marina. The crew assisted with adding fenders and helped secure the boat, but with the conditions as they were there was increasing danger of the vessel being damaged and the lifeboat crew did not want the owners dealing with the issue themselves in the bad weather. With the shore crew assisting from the pontoon, the decision was made to launch the all-weather lifeboat Richard Cox Scott at 1.10 am. The lifeboat towed the vessel clear of the pontoon into the docks out of the strong gales and waves. With the boat owners cold, shaken and wet, they were taken to the boat house to get dry and changed.

Falmouth RNLI Crew Adam West said: 'RNLI volunteer crews across the south west are on standby 24/7 this Christmas, as at anytime of year, ready to drop everything and assist anyone in trouble on the coast and at sea.'

The lifeboat was returned to the station, refuelled and ready for service at 2.35am.

Notes to editors

*Festive period is Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day
Lifeboat stations in Cornwall alone launched 31 times during the festive period between 2011 and 2015 and rescued 9 people.

Video attached courtesy of Neil Capper, Falmouth Crew, showing conditions on the night when launching.

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