Fastnet rescue - Inspiring courage

AT this time of the year, when so many of us use whatever sunshine summer might surrender to visit the shores around our island, it is very easy to be seduced by the sea.

The same but different every day, it can be beguiling and inspiring, but those who know it well know its other, dangerous side too.

It can be blindly cruel and once it turns angry, no power can earth can subdue it. We imagine we have learnt to use it but, as the crew of the racing yacht Rambler 100 discovered when their vessel capsized almost 20km off the coast of West Cork, a good day at sea can turn into a fight for survival in minutes.

That they all survived their ordeal is a tribute to their tenacity, but most of all it is a tribute to those who man the lifeboats around our coast, for no reward other than doing what they think is right. Lifeboat crews have proved their worth so many times it is almost taken for granted but courage like this, the kind that faces danger without question to save others, should never be taken for granted. It should be honoured and supported.