Falmouth lifeboat tows stricken yacht clear of Black Rock

Four people found themselves adrift in one of Falmouth’s busiest stretches of water this past Saturday (12 September), after the yacht they were sailing lost power right at the entrance to the harbour.

A call from close to Black Rock

Falmouth Coastguard received a call from a 10 metre yacht with four people on board, which had suffered mechanical failure close to Black Rock, in the entrance to Falmouth Harbour.

The volunteer crew’s pagers sounded at 12.40pm. Ten minutes later the Falmouth RNLI inshore lifeboat Robina Nixon Chard launched into a south-westerly force 4 wind.

Towed clear of a busy channel

The lifeboat reached the yacht within eight minutes. Because the casualty was sitting inside the busy channel at the harbour entrance, the crew took it under tow and brought all four sailors back to safe moorings at Premier Marina.

Once the tow was secured, HM Coastguard released the lifeboat from service. The crew were back at Falmouth Lifeboat Station by 2.00pm.

Falmouth’s volunteer crew rely on public donations to keep launching, including through the station’s own JustGiving page.

📷Credit: RNLI