Eastbourne RNLI rescues broken down yacht in stormy conditions

Eastbourne RNLI’s volunteer crew were paged at 10.10pm on Wednesday (September 7) and requested to launch the Tamar Class All Weather Lifeboat ‘Diamond Jubilee’ to help the 9m yacht that was being towed by another vessel.

According to the RNLI spokesperson, the crew made their way to the scene and found the yacht with one person on board being towed by a 23m yacht and making slow progress towards Eastbourne from Kent.

The broken down vessel was unable to steer and the weather conditions were poor with bands of rain and winds as well as flashes of lightning. The other yacht would have struggled to enter Sovereign Harbour while towing the smaller yacht, the spokesperson said.

It was decided that the safest course of action was for the lifeboat to take over the tow.

The Diamond Jubilee returned to Sovereign Harbour just after midnight with the casualty vessel.

Eastbourne RNLI Coxswain Mark Robinson said: “It was not a good night to be broken down in the shipping lanes and the crews on the yachts did exactly the right thing in calling for help. Rescues like this are only made possible thanks to donations from the public who enable us to continue saving lives at sea.”

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