Rescuers save one person aboard 60ft yacht in Hartlepool

Humber Coastguard paged Hartlepool RNLI volunteers to assist a 60ft yacht with one person on board.

Humber Coastguard paged Hartlepool RNLI volunteers at 4.45pm on Wednesday 8th September to assist a 60ft yacht with one person on board that had suffered mechanical failure off the Headland, Hartlepool.

The all-weather lifeboat ‘Betty Huntbatch’ and volunteer crew launched at 5.05pm and was alongside the yacht shortly afterwards at 5.15pm.

The yacht was towed to Hartlepool Marina where the Hartlepool RNLI inshore lifeboat ‘Solihull’ assisted with the tow through the lock gates and into the marina.

Both boats returned to the Ferry Road lifeboat station at 6.00pm and were refuelled and made ready for service by 6.20pm.

Hartlepool RNLI station mechanic and second coxswain Garry Waugh said “This was a typical tow job that the volunteer crew train for on a regular basis and good teamwork meant that the yacht and its skipper were brought back safely to the marina.”

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts.

The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands.

The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and the government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.

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