Falmouth RNLI third call out in four days
Falmouth all-weather lifeboat called out to assist holed and sinking catamaran. Falmouth Harbour
Falmouth RNLI volunteer crew pagers sounded for the third time in four days on Sunday 5 May, following a radio call to HM Coastguard Falmouth, from a 9 meter catamaran with three persons on board, that had been holed and was taking in water near Black Rock, in a South Easterly force 3-4 wind.
The charities Severn class lifeboat 'Richard Cox Scott' launched ten minutes after being paged at 11.13am, locating the vessel, that had been participating in the annual Falmouth - Fowey Triangle race (organised by The Royal Western yacht Club (Plymouth)), at 11.22am close to rocks and listing heavily, but heading to a beach in order to be safely grounded.
As the yacht was now in shallow water, the lifeboat coxswain made the decision to launch the small inflatable Y boat with two crew members on board to assess the situation. The all-weather lifeboats salvage pump was deployed to stem the ingress of water into the yachts portside hull, however it soon became obvious that this was unable to make much difference to the amount of water still flooding the yacht and the pump was removed back to the lifeboat. The two crew members assisted the casualty to sail the yacht to Andennis Beach, St.Mawes where it was successfully beached on the sandy bottom, and anchored.
The casualties were evacuated to the beach and handed over to the Portscatho Coastguard Rescue Team with the yacht being left for recovery later by Sea Wide Services who towed the vessel to Ponsharden for repair.
Falmouth Coastguard released the lifeboat at 2.25 pm, returning to the lifeboat station at 2.50pm where it was refuelled and readied for further service.
Key facts about the RNLI
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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