Lifeboat crews from Amble and Newbiggin rescue stricken yacht off the Northumberland coast
RNLI lifeboat crews teamed up to rescue a yacht after it suffered steering failure close to offshore shallows.
A distress call for help came in around 5pm on Saturday from a single handed 40 foot sailing yacht with no steering which had anchored close to the Coquet Island, as the tide began to ebb.
Amble’s Shannon class lifeboat ‘Elizabeth and Leonard’ and Newbiggin RNLI B class lifeboat ‘Richard Wake Burdon’ were requested to launched by Humber coastguard.
Fading light and choppy sea conditions made it a challenging rescue but a tow was eventually connected from the Amble lifeboat, with Newbiggin providing steadying on a stern line during the slow towing operation towards Amble marina where it was safely secured.
Newbiggin lifeboat helm Stuart Chirnside-Ferrier said: “This was a long call for both lifeboats beginning in the daylight and ending in darkness, a time critical rescue with the ebb tide putting the yacht at risk.
"The volunteers from both lifeboats however worked together to establish a tow into deeper water and onward to the safety of the marina. We were able to employ the training we'd recently carried out on towing techniques for sailing vessels with our neighbouring lifeboat volunteer team.”