Mumbles lifeboat crew were called to attend to a yacht in difficulty off Gower.
At 4am Sunday 7 March 2009 a 20ft racing yacht on passage to Cardiff got into difficulty 5 miles off Worms Head. With temperatures plummeting to minus 2 degrees overnight Mumbles Lifeboat was asked to assist by HM Coastguard at the MCA.
The Yacht – a 20ft Trans Atlantic racing yacht had a damaged mast, which had lead to the vessel also having a rope around its propeller making it impossible for the yacht to power itself.
Lifeboat Crew Members Glyn Allen and Richard Absolom were put aboard the vessel. ‘It was a long trip down to the Worm’ said Mr Allen ‘nearly an hour and by the time we got there the tide had turned against the 40 knot winds so it was getting quite choppy, we took control of the boat as the skipper was very tired and suffering from mild exposure. He’d done a great job of securing the damaged mast, which made it much easier for us to take him in tow. We eventually got him to Swansea Marina 4 hours later, it’s the second time he’d had trouble with his mast after he lost the original off Nash point a few months ago’.
2nd Coxswain of the Mumbles lifeboat Rob Tovey said ‘the skipper had done everything he should have done, he’d lashed the rigging, ensured his own safety and donned his lifejacket before calling us, we can’t stress how important it is to wear a lifejacket at sea even when the sun is shining the sea temperature is still only 12 degrees maximum and the effect of cold water shock can be totally debilitating within seconds’.
The Mumbles lifeboat station is currently in a drive to raise £150,000 towards a new boat and boathouse which will cost over 2 million pounds, The new boat will be faster, stronger and much safer for crew and casualties.
