North East lifeboat volunteers brave 22 hours at sea to rescue stranded yacht

A lifeboat crew has spent nearly 22 hours after being tasked with rescuing a stranded yacht over 100 miles off the north east coast.

Peterhead RNLI received the initial call-out at 9.30pm on Tuesday and by 9.48pm the lifeboat had been launched and was on its way out to the 11-metre yacht, which was struggling at sea after departing Norway.

With one man aboard, the yacht had been stripped of its sails and despite being supplied with diesel by offshore standby vessels, the yacht was only making one to two knots.

Travelling 105 nautical miles, the crew eventually reached the vessel at around 2.30am on Wednesday and with conditions deteriorating they secured the yacht and began the tow back to port.

The yacht under tow by Peterhead lifeboat. RNLI

In addition, during the 17-hour tow, the yacht began to take on water adding a further challenge, and so with 30 nautical miles left, Fraserburgh lifeboat was launched to assist.

The vessel’s bilge system failed and an attempted pump transfer had to be abandoned due to conditions.

The yachtsman remained onboard trying to manage the water ingress and inside Peterhead Bay, where a salvage pump and crew were transferred aboard.

A volunteer shore crew met the returning lifeboats and, together with local Coastguard teams, helped secure the yacht alongside at 7.15pm, before returning to base nearly 24 hours after the initial call-out.

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.”