Yarmouth RNLI tasked twice within 24 hours

The first shout being on Saturday 16 August just after 1:15pm which saw the volunteer crew head towards Hurst Castle after receiving the call that a 50ft motor vessel was on fire.

Within 15 minutes the crew had launched and had arrived at the last known location of the casualty vessel. Upon arrival thankfully as first suspected, the motor yacht’s engine was not alight, but instead had suffered a mechanic failure of the exhaust system which had resulted in black smoke billowing into the engine room and saloon which had alarmed the casualty vessels two person crew.

Yarmouth RNLI transferred the crew onboard the all weather lifeboat and established a tow and brought the vessel into Yarmouth Harbour to await SeaStart.

Yarmouth RNLI was then marked as ready for service at 2:15pm.

The second shout of the weekend came in before 9am on Sunday 17 August from HM Coastguard to the reports of a 32ft sailing yacht which was taking on water after hitting Hampstead ledge, as well as the solo crew having sustained a head injury during the collision.

Ten minutes after the pagers sounded, Yarmouth RNLI was alongside the casualty vessel and were joined by Lymington RNLI and rescue helicopter 175.

Working together as One Crew, Yarmouth RNLI provided the initial casualty care whilst Lymington RNLI had the winch-man paramedic lowered onto their Atlantic 85 lifeboat, and then transferred them to the casualty vessel to provide further treatment.

Both RNLI lifeboats then used their salvage pumps to keep the casualty vessel afloat.

Both lifeboats managed to stay on top of the influx of water and after further analysis of the situation deemed it suitable to begin the passage by tow back to Lymington, where an emergency haul out had been arranged.

A tow was then established alongside Yarmouth RNLI as Lymington RNLI remained alongside as safety cover as the casualty vessel was escorted to Lymington Harbour.

Senior Station Technician, Richard said ‘It was an excellent display of teamwork by all assets in a very high stress situation.

The One Crew pledge of working and volunteering together with passion and kindness was clear to see during this shout’

The casualty who had been transferred onto the all weather lifeboat was then met by ambulance in Lymington, and after a debrief with Lymington RNLI, the Yarmouth crew returned to her berth and was marked as ready for service at 11:45am.

Notes to editors

• Photos attached include Yarmouth Lifeboat, Lymington Lifeboat and Rescue 175 as the paramedic was lowers from the Helicopter, and Yarmouth Lifeboat on scene alongside Lymington Lifeboat.
• Yarmouth RNLI Lifeboat 17-25 Eric and Susan Hiscock ‘Wanderer’ came into service in 2001, prior to that Yarmouth RNLI had an Arun Class Lifeboat 52-08 Joy and John Wade which was in service for 23 years.
• 2025 marks Yarmouth Station's 101st year in service.

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The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.

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