Fourteen hour rescue mission by Courtmacsherry RNLI in difficult weather

A midnight rescue mission saw Courtmacsherry’s RNLI All Weather Lifeboat Val Adnams go to the immediate aid of a 29ft yacht that had suffered mast, power and mechanical difficulties 69 miles south of Courtmacsherry.

Shortly before midnight on Monday, Valentia Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre tasked the RNLI crew under coxswain Mark Gannon and a crew of five.

The crew, roused from their beds, got underway quickly and in the dark and difficult weather conditions went to the aid of the yacht that had set out from Cork to France with a crew of two on board.

The two were unable to raise the alarm on their own VHF radio so they fired two red distress flares which were spotted by a fishing vessel a number of miles away.

It was the crew on the fishing vessel who immediately alerted the Coast Guard and by 3.15am Courtmacsherry's RNLI crew had located the stricken yacht in deteriorating sea and weather conditions.

The yacht was taken in tow and returned under a safe speed to Courtmacsherry – a return journey that took 11 hours and ended at just 2pm today.

‘Both sets of crews were,’ according to Courtmacherry’s press officer, Vincent O’Donovan,  ‘well pleased to be back to safety after a very difficult night and morning.’

Courtmacsherry’s lifeboat operations manager Brian O’Dwyer said: ‘It’s not very often that red flares are the means of distress communications these days and the importance of having these on board the yacht was ever so important this morning.

‘It was great to see nearly two voluntary crews and officers arrive quickly at midnight, within minutes of their bleepers being activated, in order to help others in distress at sea.

‘We are so proud of how our new Shannon Class Lifeboat performed in this our longest callout in over a decade and also in very poor conditions.’

The lifeboat volunteer crew included coxswain Mark Gannon, mechanic Dave Philips, and crew members Ken Cashman, Tadgh McCarthy, Denis Murphy and Donal Young.

The Lifeboat was refuelled and returned to its mooring at 2.45pm  in constant readiness for when the next callout might occur.