The 10m yacht with just the one person on board had left Douglas in the early hours to sail to Conwy in Wales. With a calm sea and no wind the yacht had been motoring when approximately eight miles south east of Douglas the engine failed due to an electrical fault rendering the yacht immobile.
The Douglas all-weather lifeboat, Marine Engineer, under the command of volunteer coxswain, Peter Cowin, left Douglas heading for the last reported position of the yacht which by the time the casualty vessel was located had actually drifted a little further south.
Having first ensured that the single person on board was not in need of any immediate assistance the yacht was taken under tow back to a berth on the Visitors’ Pontoon at the Battery Pier in Douglas.
With the yacht safely berthed and its occupant left in the care of the Coastguard the lifeboat was also secured on the pontoon ready for service if required but also for an exercise later in the day.
Coxswain Peter Cowin explained that they had only just completed their training the previous day with the new RNLI towing system. Peter said ‘The new towing system produced by the RNLI is well engineered and worked well. Besides this afternoon’s exercise there are others planed for later in the week so the rest of our volunteers can complete their training with the new towing system’.
Notes to editors
Caption for attached photo: Casualty vessel under tow by Douglas all-weather lifeboat,
Marine Engineer.
Credit: RNLI/Michael Howland
RNLI media contacts
For more information please contact Michael Howland, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07624 496029 or email [email protected] or Danielle Rush, Divisional Media Relations Manager (Wales and West) on 07786 668829 or 01745 585162. Alternatively contact RNLI Public Relations on 01202 336789.
Key facts about the RNLI
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.
