Crews battle gales to rescue yacht

LIFEBOAT crews were called into rescue 40-foot yacht in difficulty in the north of Loch Ryan on Sunday evening. Stranraer's RNLI lifeboat was alerted to the vessel which was adrift and unable to maintain control in gale force conditions at 5.59 pm. The yacht, which had one person onboard, had suffered a failure of its anchor line and was being driven by strong winds and heavy seas towards hazardous waters Despite the challenging sea state and poor weather, the experienced volunteer crew launched and made their way to the vessel. On arrival, the crew found the yacht rolling heavily and drifting beam-on to the seas, with no effective means of control. The Stranraer crew attached control lines to stabilise the stricken yacht which was then towed to safety by an all-weather lifeboat from Girvan. A Stranraer RNLI spokesperson said: “This was a challenging service carried out in very difficult weather. The yacht was being driven by strong winds and heavy seas after its anchor failed, and the situation was deteriorating.. “Our volunteer crew worked calmly and professionally in demanding conditions to bring the vessel head-to-sea and stabilise it until Girvan’s all-weather lifeboat could arrive to complete the tow. We are very grateful to HM Coastguard and to the crew of Stena Superfast VII for their excellent support and coordination, which played a vital role in bringing this incident to a safe conclusion.”