Yacht crews are rescued

Jul 21 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

DOZENS of yachtsmen ended up in the water after strong gusts of wind caused havoc at a sea race over the weekend.

Safety officials on duty with Sunderland Yacht Club were called into action shortly after 2pm on Saturday after sustained gusts of up to 30mph caused about 15 ‘skiff’ racing sailing dinghies to capsize.

Sunderland RNLI was called out to help deal with the incident, which happened just outside the city harbour, and the RAF search and rescue helicopter from RAF Boulmer was also diverted to the scene.

But Fred Atkinson, commodore at the club, said that despite the quick arrival of the back up the situation had always been under control.

He said: “The wind came as a bit of a surprise and scattered everybody. Our safety boats were kept busy, but they had everything under control.

“Everybody was brought ashore and had a laugh about it later, but at the time it was a pretty serious and sustained blast of wind.

“We are always grateful to the RNLI for their help but we are also very pleased that the situation was taken care of by our own safety team.” Between 20 and 30 people taking part in the event ended up in the sea as a result of the wind, and one boat broke its mast after the gusts carried it into the north pier of the harbour.

Mr Atkinson said repairs to damaged boats during the Asymmetric, Musto Skiff and Cherub Open could make for an expensive day for some of the yachtsmen.

The yacht club had four safety boats on duty, and also carefully plans safety procedures with the RNLI before events such as this.

Paul Nicholson, spokesman for the Sunderland RNLI, said: “Potentially it could have been quite a serious incident but as far as procedure goes everything that should have been in place was in place.

“They gave us a call at an early stage, which is exactly what we would want in such situations.”

Ian Rowan, helmsman at Sunderland RNLI added: “On arrival we discovered that the event safety boats had managed to assist those who were in immediate danger.

“The well rehearsed joint emergency plan ensured that all of the competitors were successfully rescued before they came to any harm.

“We regularly exercise with Sunderland Yacht Club safety crews to ensure that we can work together as one team if an incident like this should occur. It worked out well.”