Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeguards and RNLI lifeboat crew rescued a windsurfer that had got into difficulties after his mast had broken at Broadhaven beach in Pembrokeshire on Friday 6 August.
The rescue took place just after 4pm, when lifeguards could see that a windsurfer, a 34-year-old on holiday in the area, had drifted more than 200 metres out to sea with a broken mast and was also perilously drifting to the right hand side of the beach behind Lions Rock and out of view of the lifeguards on the beach.
The windsurfer had been trying to paddle back to shore but was getting taking further out by the current. RNLI lifeguard Celyn Owen, went out to the windsurfer, using a rescue board closely followed by his colleague Tom Turner, while on the beach lifeguard Luke Cornish called for assistance from Little Haven RNLI inshore rescue boat, before going into the water to assist Celyn with the rescue of the windsurfer.
With the arrival and assistance of the Little Haven lifeboat, the windsurfer was safely brought to shore and did not require medical attention.
RNLI area lifeguard supervisor Stuart Penfold said: ‘Well done to the lifeguards and lifeboat crew for safely rescuing this windsurfer in not the easiest of conditions. ‘To carry out a rescue that far out to sea, shows the stamina and professionalism required of RNLI lifeguards in general and displayed by Celyn and Tom specifically. ‘Well done too to Luke Cornish for co-ordinating things so effectively from the beach radio.’
