Parachutist saved - with dry feetj Clacton lifeboatmen were involved in a most unusual service on 27 June, when they rescued a young woman parachutist while she was still airborne! The station's Atlantic 21 was called out when a speedboat towing an airborne parachutist capsized and sank in Martello Bay.

Lifeboatmen Dave Wells, Mathew Harrison and Tim Sutton were on the scene within minutes of the 1324 launch and found that the driver of the boat had already been picked up.

However although the boat had sunk, the towing line to the parachutist was still attached - and the strong and gusty SW wind was enough to keep the parachute 6ft to 12ft in the air! The lifeboatmen positioned the Atlantic under the parachute and at the first opportunity grabbed the pair of legs dangling above them. Trying to haul the young lady down against the lift of the 'chute was far from easy, but eventually they managed to bring her down into the Atlantic.

Now all they had to do was hold her down to keep her in the boat while disengaging her harness - a task which they eventually managed - allowing the parachute to fly away, deflate and eventually drop back into the sea.

The crew came ashore smiling broadly at their new experience, bringing with them a very relieved young lady who, although wearing a buoyancy aid, was a non-swimmer and who had definitely not been looking forward to the prospect of a ducking! Clactonr.