In the late afternoon of Thursday 4th July, National Coastwatch Newhaven (NCI) raised an alarm of concern with HM Coastguard for a 36ft yacht sitting close to shore off Newhaven’s West Beach. Paged at 5.02pm, Newhaven Lifeboat launched to conduct a welfare check of the vessel.
Newhaven’s Severn class all-weather lifeboat (ALB) and volunteer crew of six launched into a rough sea state and Force 6-7 south westerly.
The ALB arrived on scene approximately 300 meters off West Beach. The yacht was anchored in the surf line.
Lewis Arnold, Coxswain, says: ‘We made a first approach to the yacht to establish communications, finding one person on board.’
At first the lone-sailor was reluctant to leave the vessel. The Lifeboat made a second approach, agreeing with the casualty sailor a plan to extract them from the yacht.
Conditions were causing the lifeboat to be swamped with water. On their third approach to the yacht, machinery alarms set off within the lifeboat, forcing Newhaven RNLI to pull back.
Danny Woodfood, Mechanic, says: ‘My smart watch informed me it was time to take a break and recommended breathing exercises, but although this was a tense situation, I had every confidence in our boat. The bilge pumps were working and everything was functioning safely.’
Newhaven Lifeboat made another approach to the yacht, now drifting towards Newhaven’s breakwater.
Lewis Arnold, Coxswain, says: ‘The yacht’s anchor line snapped. The welfare of the sailor inside the yacht was now critical. Our ALB is built to cope in these difficult conditions. There was considerable green water washing over the decks. However, we were operating in very shallow waters and were not able to get close enough to the stricken yacht.’
The sailor was now in the cockpit of the yacht. HM Coastguard helicopter waiting on scene lined up to lower their winch-man as the yacht drifted closer toward the breakwater.
‘The yacht smashed onto the breakwater. HM Coastguard made a successful snatch and grab of the casualty, lowering both the winch-man and sailor onto the breakwater arm.’
‘The casualty sailor sustained serious injuries. The helicopter handling skills of pilot and winch-man were impressive to witness. We are grateful to work alongside outstanding emergency response agencies in our mission to save lives at sea.’
ENDS
Notes for the Editor
Newhaven Lifeboat - there has been an RNLI lifeboat station in Newhaven since 1854 and the crew there have operated their current all-weather lifeboat, the ‘David and Elizabeth Acland’ for 24 years.
RNLI 200 – On 4 March 2024 the RNLI celebrated its 200th Anniversary.
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