RNLI Lerwick rescues sailor who abandoned yacht taking in water in rough seas

The Norwegian-registered yacht, with one person on board, had earlier sailed west across the North Sea from Bergen. With deteriorating weather, and strong SE winds and sea swell picking up during the day, the yacht began taking in more and more water.

By early afternoon, the yachtsman aboard had issued a ‘Pan-pan’ radio message, requesting assistance from any vessels in the area. The Måløy-registered fishing trawler Hargun and UK fisheries protection vessel Hirta both responded to the radio call.

At the request of HM Coastguard, lifeboat crew were paged at 2.30pm and had launched the lifeboat by 2.40pm. In rough seas, the Severn-class All Weather Lifeboat made an average speed of around 23 knots, reaching the stricken yacht around 4pm.

The volume of water aboard the yacht was such that the skipper then made the decision to abandon ship. Hargun stood by and provided some shelter from the worst of the winds, while the lone sailor was transferred from the deck of the yacht onto the lifeboat.

The lifeboat then took a route back to Lerwick harbour, passing west of Whalsay where sea conditions were more sheltered.

The lifeboat returned to Lerwick harbour at around 5.30pm where the uninjured yachtsman was passed into the care of the waiting Coastguard Rescue Team. The lifeboat was then refulled and made ready for next service.

By early evening, the abandoned yacht was last thought to be drifting east of Out Skerries.

Weather conditions were south-easterly F7-8, near gale to gale force winds with heavy sea swell; and an air temperature of 13 degrees.

Stephen Manson, Coxswain said: “Today’s weather has seen Shetland beaten by the first gales of the Autumn and sea conditions for any small vessel have been challenging. The skipper of this yacht was right to call for assistance when his vessel was taking in water, and then made the right decision to abandon ship when he knew that the vessel was lost. The most important thing is that he’s made it safely back to land.”

RNLI Media Contacts

For further information, please contact:

Bob Kerr, RNLI Lerwick - Lifeboat Press Officer - [email protected]

Martin Macnamara, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for Scotland, 07920 365929, [email protected]

RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789, [email protected]

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