On Tuesday 2nd June HM Coastguard received reports of a yacht dangerously close to the beach near Goring and asked the RNLI at Littlehampton to intervene and assist.
At 7.13pm the charity’s volunteers were paged and launched the station’s B Class lifeboat Renee Sherman. Sea conditions were calm and with a clear blue sky the crew soon located the 31 foot yacht, but it was at high risk of running on to the beach being less than 200m from the shore. Acting quickly, a member of the RNLI rescue team boarded the yacht to assess the situation and took control of the helm in order to steer the yacht away from the shoreline and in to a safer position.
The yacht’s helm had sailed on his own from Newhaven, but with light winds he had the vessel’s engine running which enabled a quick response from the RNLI volunteer once on board who was able to take control of the vessel’s course. The yacht’s helm had been intending to head to Littlehampton, but was unsure of it’s precise location, so the lifeboat shadowed the vessel to the harbour where the crew assisted in mooring the yacht on the east bank visitor pontoon. The lifeboat crew then ensured that the yacht’s helm was physically well and stood down.
Whilst preparing to recover the lifeboat back in to the boathouse at Fisherman’s Quay the crew received a second call from HM Coastguard at 8.20pm. Concerned members of the public had reported a paddle boarder in apparent distress off east beach, Littlehampton. The crew of Renee Sherman were able to respond immediately and had their second run out of the harbour that evening. They searched eastwards from the harbour entrance towards Rustington, but no casualty was apparent and after consultation with HM Coastguard the lifeboat was stood down. The crew, however, always keep alert and on their return journey they spotted a paddle boarder near shore enjoying the water jumping on and off the board. Once they had confirmed that all was well with the paddle boarder they headed back to the boathouse to recover the lifeboat and make it ready for service.
Jon Prater, Deputy Launching Authority, said:
“The sea conditions were very calm, with only a light wind, clear sky and good visibility. However, it is easy to get disorientated at sea and locating landmarks even from a short distance offshore can be problematic. It’s important to be aware of the limitations of your vessel, and importantly yourself, before heading out to sea. Solo sailing can be exhilarating, but it also comes with risks – know your own physical limits.”
