Lone sailor rescued from beached yacht at Milford-On-Sea

The volunteer lifeboat crew quickly launched and located the vessel approximately 40 meters from the rocky shoreline, anchored but already bouncing on the bottom. Lymington Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) were also in attendance and prepared to assist from the beach.

Helm Phil Baker explained the challenges faced, ‘We assessed the options and with the depth available, proximity to the rocks and the position of the casualty vessels anchor chain, we decided that putting a crew member on board was unsafe.’

A tow line was successfully established but the yacht’s anchor was fouled on the rocks below and the casualty was unable to release it. At this point options became limited for the lifeboat crew and after holding position for as long as possible, the tow line was cut. The casualty vessel then turned side on to the weather and grounded heavily.

With the yacht now just meters from the waters edge, Lymington CRT sprang in to action and were able to wade to the vessel, recover the casualty and help him up the beach to safety.

‘Our responsibility as lifeboat crew is to ensure the safety of our people and our boat first and foremost. Saving lives at sea is the goal and if we can deliver casualty vessels to safe haven, we will endeavour to do so. In this case, we were unable to safely tow the vessel away from the rocks and it did sadly founder. Our thanks to Lymington CRT for another, successful multi-agency rescue.’ Phil concluded.

Crew: Phil Baker (Helm), Declan O’Riordan, Ben Jeffreys, Jo Styles.

RNLI Contact details:

Jo Styles, Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer, Lymington Lifeboat Station (07725) 640871 Jo_Styles@rnli.org.uk

Hatti Mellor, Regional Communications Manager - SE & London (07724) 801305 hatti_mellor@rnli.org.uk

For enquiries outside normal business hours contact the RNLI duty press officer on (01202) 336789

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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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