Dramatic rescue off coast of Cornwall involving French yacht

It was during the height of Storm Claudio hitting the Duchy that the crews of Penlee Lifeboat were alerted to a 12-metre French yacht in distress and taking on water, with eight people onboard, two miles southwest of Porthleven.

Describing the “very difficult shout, in extremely rough and unpredictable weather conditions”, a Penlee spokesperson said: “At 8.25pm last night the pagers sounded and the volunteer crew of the all-weather Severn class lifeboat Ivan Ellen received a tasking request from the HM Coastguard Operation Centre at Falmouth.

“They reported that a 12-metre French yacht, with eight persons onboard, was taking on water two miles southwest of Porthleven.

“At this time Gwennap Head was measuring wind speeds gusting to 85mph, with an average west-southwest wind speed of 65mph.

“At 8.33pm, with Coxswain Patch Harvey at the helm and seven crew onboard, the Ivan Ellen lifeboat launched from Newlyn into horrendous weather conditions.

“With a screaming wind gusting Force 10, driving heavy rain, rough seas and extremely poor visibility, the lifeboat made her way across Mount’s Bay towards the casualty vessel.”

They found that the 12-metre yacht was drifting towards the shore, pitching and tossing, and with very little sea room for the lifeboat crew to work with.

The lifeboat spokesperson added: “The prevailing sea conditions were far too poor to safely transfer a crew member across to the yacht with a salvage pump.

“The lifeboat managed to get alongside the yacht and spoke to its skipper via VHF radio. He indicated that he did not have sufficient safety equipment for the eight persons onboard to safely abandon the yacht.”

It was agreed that setting up a tow was the next best option to prevent the yacht from drifting closer to the rocks and going ashore.

The ripped sales of the yacht show the extent it was battered Picture: Amy Smith/Penlee RNLI (Image: Amy Smith / Penlee RNLI)

“In very challenging conditions, volunteer crew members James Roberts and Will Treneer went out on deck and a tow was connected to the stricken yacht on the first throw.

“The lifeboat then towed her to deeper water but after three to four minutes the tow rope parted. The wet and heavy tow rope had to be pulled back on to the lifeboat by the crew, whilst the yacht continued drifting - by the time the lifeboat and crew had reset, the yacht was about a mile off the shore.

“A second tow rope was connected on the first attempt and the Ivan Ellen proceeded to tow the yacht in a westerly direction, into the prevailing weather conditions at about 2 knots.

“At some stage the yacht’s port side hull window had smashed and water was pouring into the forehead cabin.

“A further VHF call from the yacht’s skipper indicated that they were taking in more water, up to their shins, and that two of his crew were really poorly.”

Coxswain Patch Harvey immediately contacted Falmouth Coastguard and requested urgent helicopter assistance. The Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 924, which was already en route to the Isles of Scilly, was redirected to the scene.

In the most difficult and extreme conditions, whilst the lifeboat kept the yacht underway heading into the weather, the crew of Rescue 924 managed to winch the eight casualties to the safety of the helicopter.

The Penlee spokesperson said that the coxswain and crew of the Ivan Ellen witnessed some “amazing flying skills by the pilot and incredible determination by the winchman.”

The yacht was kept under tow, and despite taking on more water arrived safely back in Newlyn Harbour at 1.30am. She was met by the inshore lifeboat ‘Mollie and Ivor Dent’, who helped with towing and putting crew members onboard the yacht.

The spokesperson added: “This was a difficult shout for our volunteer crew who dealt with some very challenging conditions both on deck, and onboard the lifeboat.”

The crew consisted of coxswain Patch Harvey, mechanic Marcel Le Bretton, Dan Sell, James Roberts, Will Treneer, Adrian Thomas and Trevelyan Worth, on his second official shout.