FOUR people have been rescued from a yacht adrift south of Fastnet Rock by Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat on Saturday morning.
The lifeboat received an alert at 06.15am from Valentia Coastguard Maritime Coordination Rescue Centre requesting assistance for a yacht reporting mechanical and electrical difficulties.
The lifeboat Annette Hutton was launched to assist the 32-foot West-Cork based yacht, with four persons onboard, which had lost its ability to manoeuvre, three miles south of the Fastnet Rock.
The lifeboat received an alert at 06:15 from Valentia Coastguard Maritime Coordination Rescue Centre requesting assistance for a yacht reporting mechanical and electrical difficulties.
Under the command coxswain Dean Hegarty with mechanic David O’Donovan and crew Joe Cronin, Donagh Murphy and William Power, on board, the lifeboat located the stricken vessel at 7.15am a half mile off the Fastnet, with all on board safe and well. The weather on-scene was described as ‘very calm’.
Castletownbere lifeboat towed the vessel to Long Island in Roaring Water Bay and passed over the tow to the Schull Coast Guard rib which brought the yacht safely into Schull Harbour. The lifeboat left the scene at 08.10am and returned to Castletownbere.
The Duty Launching Authority, Brendan O’Driscoll, praised the crew of the yacht for seeking assistance at an early stage as it was located in a busy shipping lane and could have posed a serious navigational hazard to other vessels.
