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Ramsgate RNLI launch to yacht in distress off Margate.

Lifeboats News Release

The thirty two foot yacht had been travelling from Burnham on Crouch on the East Coast to their summer berth in Ramsgate when they suffered engine failure.

Trent class lifeboat at sea

RNLI/Sarah Hewes

RNLB Henry Heys Duckworth

Due to the unfavourable weather conditions at 4.45pm HM Coastguard took the decision to launch the All weather relief Trent boat Henry Heys Duckworth, asking the volunteer crew to assess the situation onboard the yacht on arrival at the scene.

The yacht was in the Queens Channel off Margate, close to the shifting Margate Sands and in a busy shipping route leading up to the Medway and the Thames.

On arrival and after speaking to the two crew, with the wind gusting up to twenty eight knots, and a rough sea around North Foreland, it was decided that the best course of action was to take the yacht under tow. Due to the wind direction there was no choice other than to head towards Sheerness and the port of Queenborough.

Ramsgate RNLI requested that the Coastguard launch the Sheerness lifeboat for a relay and the Shannon class, Mrs Judith Copping Joyce met them at the south east outer edge of the Whitstable Flats Wind farm where the yacht was handed over and continued on its journey to Queenborough.

Ramsgate RNLI then returned to Ramsgate, against the wind making for a very bumpy ride home.

The RNLI is entirely funded by public donations without which we would not be able to continue saving lives at sea.

Karen Cox Volunteer Life Boat Press Officer Tel 07779848431 Email [email protected]

Paul Dunt RNLI Regional Media Officer London and South East. tel 07785296252 Email [email protected]

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.

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