YACHT AGAINST TIDE Hoylake, Cheshire. At 3 p.m. on igth October, 1963, the yacht Spindrift II was seen to be making little headway against a strong tide. As it was unlikely that the yacht would reach a safe anchorage before darkness fell, after which it would have been hazardous to sail in shoal water with a quickly ebbing tide, it was decided to launch the life-boat. There was a near gale from the south-east with a choppy sea. Thelife-boatOW&zw/Fwas launched at 4.5. The yacht, with four people on board, had by this time set well reefed sails and at first declined help from the lifeboat.

It was soon evident that the yacht could make little progress in the prevailing conditions, and at the request of her skipper she was towed into Hilbre pool by the life-boat. The life-boat returned to her station at 5.40..