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Clifden RNLI Lifeboat Assist Three Yacht Crew Near Inishbofin

4th August 2019
The yacht under tow by Clifden RNLI The yacht under tow by Clifden RNLI Credit: RNLI

Three crew on board a yacht which experienced difficulty off Inishbofin, North Connemara, were rescued by the RNLI Clifden crew on Saturday evening writes Lorna Siggins

The yacht had been on passage to Inishbofin when its dinghy broke loose, according to Clifden RNLI.

One of the yacht’s three crew jumped aboard it but found that that the dinghy’s engine would not start, and was then stranded as the yacht had no motor power.

Clifden’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat was launched first by shore crewman John Heffernan, who then also launched the boarding boat to the Mersey Class all-weather lifeboat Fisherman’s Friend, according to Clifden RNLI press officer Catherine Pryce.

“On the way, the lifeboats received an update that another yacht had managed to get to the crew man’s aid and passed the dinghy back to the yacht,” she said.

“ However, when the Atlantic 85 arrived on the scene, it broke free from the assisting yacht once again,” Ms Pryce said.

The lifeboat retrieved the dinghy, but weather conditions were force 5 to 6 and deteriorating and the yacht’s VHF was not functioning. The yacht crew agreed to return to Inishbofin, under tow.

Clifden RNLI’s all-weather coxswain James Mullen was assisted by crew David O Reilly, Ashling Sweeney, Thomas Davis, Ian Shanahan and Michael Carey. The Atlantic 85 was helmed by Joe Acton, with Kenneth Flaherty and Chris Nee also on crew.

The incident was the second in a busy week for Clifden RNLI, which took delivery of its new Shannon-class all-weather lifeboat last Wednesday.

A man whose leg got trapped on the Connemara shoreline during a rising tide was brought to safety in a multi-agency rescue involving RNLI Clifden, the Irish Coast Guard’s Cleggan unit and Sligo helicopter last Thursday evening (Aug 1).

Published in RNLI Lifeboats
Lorna Siggins

About The Author

Lorna Siggins

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Lorna Siggins is a print and radio reporter, and a former Irish Times western correspondent. She is the author of Search and Rescue: True stories of Irish Air-Sea Rescues and the Loss of R116 (2022); Everest Callling (1994) on the first Irish Everest expedition; Mayday! Mayday! (2004); and Once Upon a Time in the West: the Corrib gas controversy (2010). She is also co-producer with Sarah Blake of the Doc on One "Miracle in Galway Bay" which recently won a Celtic Media Award

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Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

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