Barrow Lifeboat Called to Assist Stricken Yacht

The call for assistance came through from the Coastguard at 3-52pm with a request to go to the aid of a 40-foot (12 metre) yacht which had got into difficulty 6 miles west of Haverigg.

The crew was paged and the all-weather lifeboat, ‘Grace Dixon’, was launched at 4-15pm under the command of Coxswain, Shaun Charnley and five crew. The lifeboat reached the scene at 5-00pm and took over from the windfarm crew transfer vessel, ‘Rix Panther’, which had also gone to assist.

The crew of two on the yacht had to cut their anchor free in order continue their passage and, as a precaution, the lifeboat escorted them for the remainder of their voyage.

Both vessels arrived at Fleetwood at 8-26pm and with the yacht safe, the lifeboat proceeded back to Barrow where it arrived at 9-10pm.

The ‘Grace Dixon’ was rehoused by the waiting shore crew and made ready for the next call-out.

The weather at the time of the incident was fine and the wind was easterly, Force 5 with a 2-metre swell. The high tide was at 9-27pm with a predicted height of 7.9 metres.

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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 142,700 lives.

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