Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat aids rudderless Dutch yacht in 10 hour callout
A Dutch yacht that had lost its rudder and had no steering had to be helped by a RNLI lifeboat crew off the Suffolk coast in what turned out to be a very long job.
Lowestoft RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew were called out at 7.55pm on Friday 15 May to go to the aid of an 11-metre yacht that was stranded Northeast of the Galloper windfarm and 32 miles from Lowestoft.
Lifeboat Coxswain John Fox said “after HM Coastguard received a message requesting assistance from the skipper of the yacht and with no nearby commercial help forthcoming, we were tasked to launch our lifeboat ‘Patsy Knight’ to go and see how we could help.
It took us just over an hour to reach the Dutch sailing vessel and the four people on board told us that they had left the River Orwell that morning and had just passed the windfarm when they lost their rudder but didn’t know how this had happened. Another yacht had thrown them a line and was helping to hold them in place and stop them drifting when we arrived.
We assessed their predicament and as their boat was a navigational hazard unable to steer and zig-zagging from side to side in a shipping lane while also being close to a windfarm, the safest action was to tow them to a nearby harbour.
We deployed what is called a ‘casualty drogue’. This is an inverted cone shaped device which is dragged through the water at the stern of the rudderless yacht to stabilize its movements.
We then began the long tow back to Lowestoft. It was quite breezy, and the sea was lumpy with a big tide running, as we made our way but because the yacht was still tending to move from side to side, we were only able to travel at four knots.
Fortunately, the tide eventually turned and after towing for over eight hours we reached our home port and moored the yacht on the Heritage Quay in Lowestoft just before six o’ clock in the morning.”
A lifeboat spokesman added “This was a particularly long mission for the volunteer crew, some of whom had been summoned from a fundraising lifeboat quiz in Oulton Broad to answer the call for help - which showed their selflessness in being ready to respond whenever the pagers alert them, to save lives at sea.”
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For further information, please contact:
Michael Howes, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for RNLI North and East, [email protected]
Clare Hopps, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for North East and East England, 07824 518641, [email protected]
Richard Grange, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for North East and East England, 07483 112015, [email protected]
RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789, [email protected]
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