Cowes Lifeboat Searches Solent for Drifting Speedboat
Reports of a drifting and smoking 20-foot speedboat carrying four people without lifejackets led to the launching of Cowes RNLI lifeboat last Sunday evening (26 June).
Although the boat was apparently somewhere between Cowes and Calshot the lifeboat’s initial search proved fruitless. Passing vessels including a cruise ship were then radioed for help. Finally, one of Red Funnel’s passenger catamarans reported seeing the craft near the entrance to Hamble River.
The lifeboat found the speedboat making three or four knots, with two men and two women on board; two of the people were soaking wet, having previously fallen overboard.
A man and women were taken up to a slipway on the River Itchen where they had a car. Then the lifeboat returned to the speedboat and towed it to a boat-trailer in the River Itchen, where it was met by Hillhead coastguards. Also in attendance was a Southampton harbour board vessel.
Having launched at 8.10 pm the lifeboat returned to station at 10.30 pm.
End
RNLI media contact
- George Chastney, Cowes RNLI Volunteer Press Officer 07530 254052/ [email protected]
- Paul Dunt, RNLI Media Regional Officer (London/East/South East) 0207 6207426/ 07785 296252/ [email protected]
- For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
· RNLI online: For more information on the RNLI please visit http://www.cowes-lifeboat.org.uk or http://www.rnli.org/ Cowes Lifeboat Station can also be found on Facebook and Twitter
· News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI News Centre.
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 142,700 lives.
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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
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