RNLI volunteers in 24-hour mission to rescue lone yachtsman

RNLI volunteers rescued a lone yachtsman off the coast of Aberdeenshire in a 24-hour mission this week.

Peterhead RNLI volunteers spent approximately 22 hours at sea to bring the man safely into harbour after receiving a call to assist an 11-metre yacht struggling towards Peterhead after departing Norway.

The Peterhead lifeboat launched at 9.48pm on Tuesday to help the vessel, according to a post shared on the lifeboat’s Facebook page.

Its sails had been stripped and, despite offshore standby vessels supplying diesel, it was making just one to two knots of speed.

Following a passage of approximately 105 nautical miles and a short search, the crew located the yacht at around 2.30am, approximately 100 nautical miles north-north-east of Peterhead.

With conditions deteriorating, they began a 17-hour tow to bring the yachtsman safely into harbour.

But as Wednesday wore on, volunteers faced worsening weather on the journey back, and the yacht began to take on water with around 30 nautical miles still to travel.

Peterhead RNLI said an attempted pump transfer had to be abandoned as squalls made it too dangerous, and Fraserburgh RNLI was called to help in case the sailor needed to abandon his yacht during the remaining journey.

For the remaining two hours, the yachtsman managed the water ingress manually.

Once inside Peterhead Bay, the lifeboat transferred a salvage pump and crew aboard.

Together with local Coastguard teams, lifeboat crews helped secure the yacht at 7.15pm on Wednesday – 22 hours after first receiving the call.

From the first pager call to finally getting home, it was a 24-hour commitment for Peterhead RNLI volunteers.

Volunteer coxswain Patrick Davidson said: “I knew this was going to be an epic duration due to the distances involved, and I must praise my crew for their professionalism and tireless efforts throughout, as at no point could they switch off. They all needed to keep focus.”

He also thanked Fraserburgh RNLI for their support and the vessels that relayed communications to Aberdeen Coastguard throughout the operation.