Two North Wales RNLI lifeboats were launched late on New Year’s Eve to spend over four hours at sea searching for a missing yachtsman.
At 10.20 pm Holyhead Coastguard asked for Llandudno’s all-weather lifeboat Andy Pearce to be launched to join the Conwy RNLI inshore lifeboat in a search for a 23-foot yacht reported to be in difficulties and anchored off Penmaenbach point.
On board was a lone 64 year-old male sailor, conditions were blustery, with a south west wind gusting to near-gale force. As a result, the Llandudno lifeboat launched at 11 pm and began a search of the area.
By this time, the Conwy crew had managed to locate the yacht in the darkness, but found it to be unoccupied. Both lifeboats therefore began an extensive search for the missing sailor, aided by the North Wales Police helicopter and Coastguard teams on the neighbouring beaches.
Nothing was found, and the lifeboats were stood down at 3am, the Llandudno boat returning to station at 4.30am. With daylight on New Year’s Day, the Conwy crew resumed the search, and at the same time members of Llandudno’s RNLI crew began to check out the resort’s west shore area on foot.
At 9.15am the Llandudno personnel found a body on the west shore beach; this was immediately reported to the Coastguard for the appropriate actions to be taken.
