Courtmac RNLI rescue stricken yacht

A 48 foot stricken yacht with two crew members on board was towed into Courtmacsherry yesterday evening by Courtmacsherry RNLI crew after it got into difficulties off the Seven Heads coastline near Clonakilty Bay.

The Courtmacsherry RNLI lifeboat station was alerted  at 7.30pm by the Valentia Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre, that the  yacht had got into difficulties 4.5 miles off the Seven Heads coastline near Clonakilty Bay and required  assistance.

Within minutes of the crew bleepers being activated, the station’s all weather trent class lifeboat 'Frederick Storey Cockburn' under Coxswain Sean O Farrell and a crew of six was launched and headed to the scene of the alert. The lifeboat located the stricken yacht with two crew on board just after 8.15pm, and after assessing the situation, a decision was made to secure a tow line to the casualty and tow the yacht, which had encountered mechanical difficulties on its passage from New Ross to Clifden, back to the nearest port of Courtmacsherry.

The lifeboat arrived safely to port just after 10pm and the causality was placed at a mooring in the lower harbour as the Courtmacsherry Pontoon is undergoing a major dredging operation that commenced last Friday.

'It was great to see the quick reaction of our volunteers on this busy summer evening, who dropped whatever they were at and rushed to the station in order to help other in danger. It’s been a long day for most of these volunteers as they also took part earlier in the day in a major multi-agency Search and Rescue exercise off Broadstrand in Courtmacsherry Bay, 'said  Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat voluntary duty launch authority Vincent O Donovan.

The Courtmacsherry Lifeboat crew this evening were Coxswain Sean O Farrell, Mechanic Dave Philips and crew members Ken Cashman, Kieran Boyle, Donal Young, Ciaran Hurley and Denis Murphy.