By Dan Walsh
Arklow and Rosslare Harbour RNLI came to the aid of two sailors in the early hours of Wednesday morning after their 24ft yacht got into difficultly.
The crew on the sailing vessel requested assistance after having mechanical failure and losing power 15 miles south of Arklow.
Due to the location of the vessel, Rosslare Harbour RNLI’ all-weather lifeboat was requested to launch by the Irish Coast Guard to assess the situation just before 2am.
Arklow RNLI later was requested to assist in the rescue and was launched at 3.10am.
The lifeboat from Rosslare arrived on scene first.
Weather conditions were good at the time with a light wind and clear visibility despite the darkness.
The crew observed that while the casualties were safe and well, the yacht could not make any safe onward progress due to having lost power.
A decision was made to secure a line to the vessel and tow the yacht north to the safety of Arklow Harbour which was more favourable due to the weather conditions and the north westerly wind direction at the time.
The Rosslare lifeboat was met by Arklow’s RNLI lifeboat where the tow was safely handed over and the yacht brought into the marina at 6.15am.
Speaking after the call out, Arklow RNLI Coxswain Brendan Dillon said: ‘We were happy to bring the sailors to safety this morning and would like to wish them well. We would also like to thank our colleagues from Rosslare for the great team work this morning and indeed commend them and all our volunteers who got out of their beds and responded to this call out in the hours of darkness.”
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