Lytham St Annes RNLI inshore lifeboat assists yachtsman

As the tide ebbed off the 27ft (8.22m) sailing boat was left high and dry off Granny’s Bay, Lytham. Fortunately for the lone occupant the three ton vessel kept upright as she lay aground as she was a bilge keeler.

Nothing could now be done apart from laying out an anchor in preparation for the night time high tide. The sailor had many years of expertise navigating the estuaries and seas in this part of the North West coast and was unfortunate to end up in such a position.

With a 10m tide starting to bore into the estuary, HM Coastguard became concerned for the 80-year-old skipper’s welfare, so requested the Lytham St Annes inshore lifeboat (ILB) to launch and investigate - as once the darkness came down the temperature dropped dramatically out in the river.

The Lytham St Annes ILB MOAM was launched at 9.30pm and headed down river in the dark to find the casualty. In command was volunteer Helm Steve Matthews with volunteers Chris Penrice and Jack Ansell making up his crew.

The flood had only just reached the yacht when they arrived on scene, so the ILB had to stand off in the channel to wait for the vessel to refloat, while keeping a careful watch on the casualty. When the vessel finally refloated, the skipper was having great difficulty attempting to raise the anchor with the mechanical winch on board so asked for help.

Helm Steve carefully took the lifeboat across the stone training wall to get alongside the yacht and transfer Chris across to winch in the anchor and assist bringing the vessel off the sandbank and into the channel. As the man was happy with the situation now, the lifeboat escorted him to the mouth of the river and into the Irish Sea, from where the man could complete his passage from Preston Dock to Fleetwood.

Taking Chris back off the vessel, the lifeboat headed back to Lytham to be recovered by the waiting shore crew with the INEOS launch vehicle and all equipment was washed off, checked over and refuelled before the crew could return to their homes at 12.45am (5 March) after a job well done.

Lifeboat Operations Manager, Paul Little said afterwards:

'These unfortunate things can happen even to an experienced sailor at times. With the dark and cold it would be far from pleasant to sit out there in a small yacht and without the assistance, it is unlikely he would have got his anchor raised or found his way out of the Ribble.

'Our highly trained volunteers will go out to help others at any time, day or night thanks to the generous donations from the public to help save lives at sea.'

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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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