No survivors from capsized motor boatThe capsize of a Coastguard rigid inflatable boat added a further twist to a service by Salcombe lifeboat when she was searching in heavy seas and an onshore Force 7 wind on 28 May 1995.

Brixham Coastguard had asked for the immediate launch of Salcombe lifeboat at 0713 after a small motorboat capsized at Bigbury, by the mouth of the river Avon, throwing the two people aboard - a father and son - into the water.

Salcombe's 47ft Tyne class lifeboat, The Baltic Exchange II launched and began the 30 minute passage to the scene, but as Coxswain/Mechanic Frank Smith took the lifeboat around Bolt Tail the Coastguards at Hope Cove launched their own rigid inflatable and headed for the search area. The boat arrived at the scene but soon capsizedin the heavy surf which was running.

The lifeboat arrived on the scene at the same time as an RAF helicopter from Chivenor and the two Coastguards from the boat were winched up out of theSalcombe lifeboat was by this time in very heavy surf.

The Tyne began the search for the motorboat and its crew, and one casualty was soon located nearby and airlifted ashore, sadly he had not survived.

The search continued for the second person known to have been aboard, but after nearly four hours in Force 6 to 7 winds nothing had been found and, at 1203, the lifeboat left the scene to return to station..