Lyme Regis lifeboat rescues five teenagers

Lyme Regis lifeboat was requested to launch to assist a 35' sailing yacht that had broken free from its mooring off Lyme harbour at 2.45am this morning (Wed). The sailing boat had drifted towards the shore and ran aground on the beach near Lucy's Ledge in Lyme Regis. There were seven people on board including five teenagers.

The lifeboat launched and was alongside the casualty vessel 15 minutes after the Coastguard requested the launch. The five teenagers were rescued off the casualty boat and taken to the lifeboat station, all were safe and well with no injuries.

The volunteer crew of the lifeboat then returned to the casualty vessel and managed to tow the boat away from the beach back to a mooring.

The boat was a Tradewind 35 sailing yacht called TS Vigilant, part of the Sea Cadets fleet. The boat and crew were on route from Plymouth to Poole, stopping at Lyme Regis for the night. The five Sea Cadets were from the London and Birmingham areas.

Helm Tim Edwards said: 'I was pleased we were able to get the teenagers to safety of the lifeboat station and then recover the casualty vessel from trouble. The lifeboat crew performed really well and the all the training we do was put to good use!'

Lifeboat helm Tim Edwards had special praise for Tom Wallis, a member of the lifeboat crew.

Tim said: 'I brought the lifeboat alongside the grounded yacht in pitch darkness. Tom went aboard the yacht to reassure the youngsters and the two adult crew members. He then helped all seven people to board our lifeboat, which was quite an exercise in almost total darkness. Later Tom stayed aboard the yacht to assist as we re-floated it and towed it to safety.'

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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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