Two lifeboats save six from yacht in storm conditions Aldeburgh and Lowestoft lifeboats were both involved in a long, arduous service in Storm Force winds and extremely heavy seas when they rescued six people from a yacht in the North Sea at the end of August.

Conditions were so bad that one breaking wave picked up Lowestoft's Tyne and hurled her towards the smaller Mersey, which was thrown over on to her beam ends as the wave broke over her. The long service in such awful conditions has not surprisingly earned the coxswains of both lifeboats the RNLI's Bronze Medal and the Institution's Thanks on Vellum for Shane Coleman (known as 'Bert') - Lowestoft's second coxswain - who was put aboard the yacht for the evacuation and the long tow to safety.The casualty was the yacht Red House Lugger, belonging to Red House School. She had been on passage from Holland with her skipper, a schoolmaster and four 16 and 17-year-old pupils aboard when she suffered storm damage and put out a Mayday call at around 0800 on 29 August, reporting her position as 30 miles SE of Lowestoft.

The call was passed on by another vessel as a Mayday Relay to Yarmouth Coastguard, who contacted Lowestoft lifeboat station to request an immediate launch.

Meanwhile the Mayday Relay had been overheard further south by Aldeburgh's coxswain Mechanic Ian Firman, who was in the boathouse at the time, and soon the station's Mersey Freddie Cooper was launching from the open beach in a full gale from the north west. The launch was made difficult by a very rough sea, a 4m swell and 2 knot tide but once clear of the first set of breakers Freddie Cooper was able to head off to the east towards the yacht's position.

Worse conditions Conditions worsened as she lost the shelter of the coast, with visibility reduced by driving rain and blowing spray. With the wind by now Force 11 on the port quarter the Mersey continued down the quartering seas at full speed - although she broached completely on one wave and ended up headed west before the situation could be retrieved.

Meanwhile further up the coast to the north Lowestoft's Tyne class Spirit of Lowestoft had put to sea under Coxswain John Catchpole and she too headed at full speed towards the yacht's position. Her south-easterly course also put the weather on her port quarter, and she too was experiencing Force 11 winds and 20ft seas.

Although she did not broach she was continuously shipping water over her windward side and was also hampered by the very poor visibility.

As the two lifeboats converged on theyacht an RAF Seaking helicopter located her but could not contemplate winching the crew off in the atrocious conditions. The helicopter stayed with Red House Luggerand relayed her position to the lifeboats as she was driven 15 miles south by the tide and storm force winds.

The cargo ferry Norking had also responded to the Mayday, arriving at the casualty at 0848 and standing by to windward of her to provide what shelter she could.

Both lifeboats arrived at about 1018 to find the yacht steering a very erratic course. She had her engine running but a headsail had been lowered but not stowed, so that the wind sometimes caught it, swinging the bow downwind.

Breaking The two coxswains decided that Aldeburgh's Mersey would try to put a tow aboard the yacht, but as she approached cautiously with most of the crew on deck Ian Firman glanced astern from the helm and was horrified to see Spirit of Lowestoft on the face of a wave so large that it towered over her stern even though her bow was not yet in the trough. The Tyne was being hurled towards him by the wave so Coxswain Firman accelerated away to avoid a collision. As he did so the wave caught up with the Mersey and began to break. Freddie Cooper surfed out of control in the broken water and Coxswain Firman thought she might drive her shoulder under and capsize, so he throttled back and shouted to the on-deck crew to hold on.

The Mersey was laid over by the wave until the wheelhouse windows on the port side were completely under water and the forward windows were obscured. Such was the angle of heel thatalarms were triggered and Coxswain Catchpole aboard the nearby Tyne was convinced he could see Freddie Cooper's starboard propeller clear of the water - commenting that it was still shiny! Fortunately the lifeboat's crew were all still aboard and uninjured although one of them had been completely immersed and his automatic lifejacket had inflated.

The plan to tow the yacht was abandoned and Aldeburgh lifeboat moved in again to take off half the yacht's crew, the remainder to be taken off by the Tyne.

Narking closed in to provide a better lee, but the yacht suddenly steered out round her stern and had to be guided back into the small amount of shelter provided by the ferry's bulk.

With the casualty steering straight downwind Coxswain Firman was able to put the Mersey's starboard bow up to the yacht and three of her crew were snatched to safety.

Watching from a safe distance Coxswain Catchpole aboard Lowestoft's Tyne decided that as the yacht was not under control - she had made a 180° turn just before the Mersey approached - it would be safer to put someone aboard to oversee the transfer of the three remaining crew.

Leaped With Red House Lugger running downwind in the lee of the large ferry Spirit of Lowestoftclosed in and Second Coxswain Bert Coleman leaped aboard the yacht at the first attempt.

Taking control of the casualty he mustered the remaining three people on deck, and once again Coxswain Catchpole brought the lifeboat's starboard shoulder up to the yacht's port side so that the three could be hauled aboard the Tyne.

With all the survivors safe it was decided to try to tow the yacht in. She had no suitable cleats to take the towline so Bert rigged a bridle round the deckhouse to spread the load.The yacht was out of the lee of the ferry by now, rolling heavily beam-on to the sea, and it took two attempts to pass the tow line. With the errant sail secured the long tow ashore started at 1115, heading for Harwich which was 35 miles away to the west at about 5 knots (Lowestoft was the same distance, but upwind).

Aldeburgh's Mersey fell in astern as escort, ready to move in quickly if Bert had to abandon the yacht.

Pump An hour and a half later the bridle parted and had to be renewed and Bert also had to pump the casualty for 15 minutes at a time as water was coming aboard and making her sluggish. He was eventually able to plug two broken windows to reduce the inflow.

The conditions improved slowly as the three boats began to gain some shelter from the land and Freddie Cooper moved off at full speed to put her three survivors ashore at Shotley, inside Harwich Harbour. She refuelled at Harwich and returned to Aldeburgh where she was recovered at 2005, after nearly 12 hours at sea.

Spirit of Lowestoft continued with the tow, and although better progress could be made in the more sheltered waters it was not until 1900 that the yacht was safely secured in Shotley Marina and the Tyne could refuel at Harwich lifeboat station.

With an even longer trip home than Aldeburgh's Mersey it was not until 2336, more than 15 hours after she left, that she was safely secured in her home port and ready for service again.Lowestoft The lifeboat Tyne class Spirit of Lowestoft Operational Number 47-020 The Crew Bronze Medal: Coxn William Catchpole Thanks on Vellum: 2nd Coxn/Mech Shane Coleman Medal Service Certificates: Asst Mech Peter Foskett Crew members John Fox Charles Buckingham Malcolm Honon Graham Shillings Aldeburgh The Lifeboat Mersey class Freddie Cooper Operational Number 12-34 The crew Bronze Medal: Coxn/Mech Ian Firman Medal Service Certificates: 2nd Coxn Michael Testoni Crew members Leslie Warner Peter Cook Steven Saint Christopher Baker Kevin Clarke.