Capsized boats keep lifeboat crews busy
11:00am Saturday 8th September 2012 in News
REPORTS of three people clinging to a capsized catamaran off Maenporth beach saw both Falmouth lifeboats launched last week.
The coastguard was called at 5.36pm on Monday, and sent the in shore and all-weather boats, along with the Falmouth coastguard cliff rescue team.
The Inshore Lifeboat arrived at 5.49pm, and found that the crew of the catamaran had righted it themselves.
It was then towed back into Maenporth beach by the lifeboat.
A spokesman for the RNLI said: “The 16ft Dart catamaran had been launched from the beach and had headed out into the bay where it met the full force of the prevailing weather conditions on clearing the shelter of the cove.”
On Wednesday the crew of the Falmouth Inshore Lifeboat was called out to a capsizing Sailing dinghy in the Carrick Roads .
The Coastguard was contacted at 5.48pm, and the lifeboat arrived at the scene off Penarrow Point just ten minutes later.
The dinghy and its sailor were found safe and well on the slipway at Restronguet Sailing Club, where he confirmed that he had capsized a number of times in the poor weather conditions but had made the shore safely.
A spokesman for the lifeboat said: “The single handed Laser dinghy had been sailing in the Carrick Roads and had been observed to capsize on a number of occasions and this had been reported to the Coastguard. “Although on this occasion the sailor had been capable of continuing his journey back to the sailing club, the circumstances could have been very different.”
