At 14.41pm yesterday afternoon H.M. Coastguard requested the launch of the RNLI Exmouth lifeboat to a distress call from a yacht that had lost engine power whilst entering the River Exe. The All-Weather Lifeboat, R&J Welburn, launched shortly after with five volunteer crew onboard.
At 14.41pm yesterday afternoon H.M. Coastguard requested the launch of the RNLI Exmouth lifeboat to a distress call from a yacht that had lost engine power whilst entering the River Exe.
The All-Weather Lifeboat, R&J Welburn, launched shortly after with five volunteer crew onboard.
It is suspected that the yacht had suffered an issue with their water cooling intake into the engine and therefore lost engine power. Although the yacht crew had attempted to continue under sail alone, the force of the outgoing tide and prevailing wind direction had prevented them from making any meaningful progress in the busy river channel and they had therefore called for assistance.
After covering the short distance to the yacht, the Coxswain assessed the situation and, realising that there was a risk to the crew of the yacht and to other vessels, instructed the volunteer crew to quickly pass a tow-line so the yacht could be assisted to a nearby visitor mooring.
The yacht was safely placed on a mooring a short time later and the lifeboat and crew were stood down.
The yacht skipper did the right thing in calling for help after his initial attempts to self-recover had been unsuccessful. The crew had all appropriate safety equipment and were simply unfortunate in facing engine failure at such a challenging time in their passage.
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