Poole Lifeboats launched on Boxing Day to a report of a speed boat sinking
Poole Lifeboats launched on Boxing Day to a report of a speed boat sinking
Lifeboats News Release
Poole Lifeboat was launched by UK Coastguard on Boxing Day (Wednesday 26 December) at 5.30pm to a report of a speedboat sinking with four people on board off Lake Yard at the top end of the harbour at the end of Hamworthy.
The lifeboat volunteers swiftly made their way through the harbour, it was a still dark night and there was a strong ebb tide. They came across a moored yacht with a dory, a small speedboat, tangled up in the yachts mooring chain. There was five people on-board the yacht, who had been aboard the Dory, the lifeboat crew checked that they were all okay.
It came to light that the Dory had become entangled in the mooring chain of the yacht, a speedboat which had been out with the Dory came to assist but found itself getting into difficulty and sank.
When the lifeboat arrived on scene, they were told that four people had entered the water but after a short search of the area it was ascertained that the four people had made it safely ashore, as the lifeboat was searching they made contact with the casualties on the yacht.
The lifeboat recovered the five people from the yacht that were off the Dory and landed them ashore at Lake Yard then returned to untangle the Dory from the yacht, which they also took to Lake Yard. Poole Coastguard rescue team were also on hand ashore, they made sure that everyone had been confirmed safe.
The D class was also launched to assist in the search for the four people in the water and once it was discovered that they were safe and well, they located the submerged speedboat and secured it to a mooring buoy so it would not drift off, preventing it becoming a hazard to navigation.
Both lifeboats returned back to station, the D class refuelled and both boats were ready for service by 7.30pm.
Lifeboat volunteer Helm Jonathan Clark said;
‘The information that we were given was sketchy and confusing, eventually all people were recovered safe and well. It was a good outcome that could have been a lot worse’.
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.
