A lone sailor was recovering in West Cork in Tuesday evening after being rescued by the RNLI when he suffered a sail blowout and engine failure while sailing from Glandore to Kinsale.
The Courtmacsherry RNLI lifeboat, the Frederick Storey Cockburn, responded after the man in his 50s radioed for help at about 2pm after he got into difficulties about 3km south west of the Old Head of Kinsale.
Cox Sean O’Farrell and his crew reached the stricken 10-metre yacht just before 2.30pm.
As the yacht was completely disabled and conditions at sea were worsening, the lifeboat crew decided to get a line aboard the yacht and take her under tow to Kinsale.
“The lifeboat arrived with the yacht under tow into the safe surrounds of the Harbour Marina in Kinsale at 4.30pm. The sailor was mighty pleased to see the lifeboat today and he expressed his extreme thanks to all involved in today’s rescue,” said RNLI Courtmacsherry spokesman Vincent O’ Donovan.
This was the 21st callout of the year for the All Weather Lifeboat Station in Courtmacsherry. On June 29th, a lone sailor also got into difficulty when his yacht suffered a broken mast and engine failure after 14 days at sea en route to Ireland from the Azores.
The RNLI Frederick Storey Cockburn reached the yacht 25km south west of Courtmacsherry Bay and towed it to safety.
