RNLI tow stricken yacht stranded in busy shipping lane off Cork coast to safety

Four sailors were rescued from a yacht off the West Cork coast this morning after their vessel got into difficulties around three miles off the Fastnet Rock.

A spokesperson at the Valentia Coastguard Maritime Coordination Rescue Centre told The Echo they received a report at around 5.45am saying that engine on the yacht had lost power and the vessel was drifting.

Tasked

The Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat was tasked to the scene at around 6.20am and the lifeboat ‘Annette Hutton’ was launched within minutes under the command of Coxswain Dean Hegarty with mechanic David O’Donovan and crew Joe Cronin, Donagh Murphy and William Power.

It arrived on the scene and located the stricken yacht, roughly half a mile off the Fastnet, at around 7.15am

In a post on Facebook Castletowbere RNLI said the weather on the scene was described as being ‘very calm’ and the four sailors were ‘safe and well’.

“The yacht was unable to manoeuvre and contact was made with the vessel and the decision was made to tow the vessel as it posed a potential navigational hazard to other vessels,” read the post.

The Castletownbere lifeboat towed the yacht to Long Island in Roaring Water Bay and passed over the tow to the Schull Coast Guard rib which brought the yacht safely into Schull Harbour.

The lifeboat left the scene at 8.10am, returned to Castletownbere, and was refuelled and ready for service again by 9.55am.

The duty launching authority, Brendan O’Driscoll, praised the vessel for seeking assistance at an early stage as he said it was located in a busy shipping lane and could have posed a serious navigational hazard to other vessels.