Yacht rescued during ‘longest RNLI call-out in a decade’ off coast of West Cork 

The yacht was eventually brought to Courtmacsherry some 14 hours after its initial distress call

The yacht being towed back to safety by the RNLI. Picture: RNLI

An RNLI lifeboat was involved in the “longest call-out in over a decade” off the coast of West Cork overnight on Monday evening.

During horrific weather conditions of heavy rain showers and wind, a yacht suffered mast, power and mechanical difficulties around 69 miles south of Courtmacsherry.

It had been en route from Cork to France with two crew members on board when the weather had worsened and they had run into problems on board just before midnight. These problems included the yacht’s communication channels.

As a result, the crew fired two red distress flares into the night sky, which were spotted by the crew of a nearby fishing vessel who immediately alerted the Coast Guard.

The Courtmacsherry RNLI all-weather lifeboat was launched, with a crew of five rising from their beds to attempt a rescue led by coxswain Mark Gannon.

Courtmacsherry Lifeboat Crew under Coxswain Mark Gannon after their call-out. Picture: RNLI

The lifeboat located the stricken yacht over 69 miles across the Irish Sea at 3.15am, and in deteriorating sea and weather conditions a decision was taken to take the yacht in tow and return to the nearest port of Courtmacsherry.

The yacht, which was 29ft in size, was towed back throughout the night and arrived back into the Courtmacsherry pontoon at around 2pm on Tuesday afternoon—14 hours after the initial communication to the RNLI.

Courtmacsherry lifeboat operations manager Brian O'Dwyer said: “It is not very often that red flares are the means of distress communications these days and the importance of having these on board the yacht was ever so important this morning.

"It was great to see nearly two voluntary crews and officers arrive quickly at midnight, within minutes of their bleepers being activated, in order to help others in distress at sea.

"We are so proud of how our new Shannon Class Lifeboat performed in this our longest call-out in over a decade and also in very poor conditions."