Joint rescue saves water-skiersOn Saturday, 8 September 2001, three lifeboats, two helicopters and two cliff rescue teams were called out to rescue three people from a speedboat that had capsized in a notoriously dangerous area. The wind was blowing at over 40mph and there was a strong tidal race. Below is Trearddur Bay helmsman Chris Pritchard's account of the service.The lifeboat was launched at 1 pm to a report of a capsized craft with three or four people in the water off the promontory of Penrhyn Mawr, near an outcrop of rocks known as the Fangs, almost three miles from the lifeboat station.

While on route to the Fangs it became obvious that conditions were going to be difficult- The tide was in full flood and the whole area appeared as a wall of white water. A north-westerly wind at force 6 or 7, with gusts of 40mph, was blowing against the tide, making sea conditions extremely hazardous.

Avoiding a wall of standing 5m waves, we proceeded through a narrow inshore gully to enter the sea area west of the Fangs and into the tidal race. We continued for about 400m but due to the atrocious sea conditions we saw nothing.

I then began a parallel search across the width of the tidal race. Sea conditions were worsening rapidly with waves now over 6m in a confused sea. As the search continued, we were moving westwards and ever closer to the South Stack. The length of each leg of the search was becoming longer as the width of the tidal race widened the further down tide it got from the Fangs.

Meanwhile, the D class lifeboat Irish Diver was launched to assist. As it approached the search area, I radioed the crew to take extreme care and not to enter the tidal race but to carry out a close inshore search in the calmer waters from the Fangsand up to South Stack - a distance of two miles. I thought that the numerous back-eddies in this area might have taken the casualties close inshore to the foot of the cliffs.

This was now turning into a major incident. The Sea King helicopter from 122 Squadron, Valley, had been asked to assist in the search but would not be able to arrive for 25-30 minutes, as she was some 100 miles away at a separate incident at Southport. The Coastguard also requested the services of the North Wales Police helicopter, which was about 20 minutes away. At the same time the Holyhead Arun class lifeboat was launched to make the four mile journey to the search area and the cliff rescue teams from Holyhead and Rhoscolyn began searching the coastline from the Fangs to South Stack.

We had by now been searching in the tidal race for 45-50 minutes, with each leg being about one mile long due to the widening of the race stream.

Our search had taken us down stream as far as South Stack Island and it was here we came across some debris, including bits of water-skiingequipment, that we were fairly certain had come from the capsized boat.

I transmitted this information to the Coastguard who passed it on to the police helicopter, which had just arrived on scene. It flew over us out to sea and almost immediately spotted the casualties about 100m in front of us. At first we couldn't find them because of the height of the waves but we soon caught sight of them and hurried over.

We immediately brought them aboard the lifeboat and checked that there had just been the three of them on the boat. It was apparent that two of the three were in deep hypothermia and were not able to help themselves get aboard, so it took considerable skill and effort from Terry and Dave to bodily lift them on board while the lifeboat was constantly rising and falling.

By now the Holyhead Arun had arrived and we transferred the two badly hypothermic casualties onto the lifeboat. The RAF Sea King had now arrived on scene and it was decided to airlift them direct to Ysbyty Gwynedd, the nearest hospital. One of them was successfully winched aboard the helicopter but the condition of the remaining casualty was rapidly deteriorating and it was too risky to winch him onto the helicopter. Instead, the lifeboat took him back to Holyhead Marina where he was transferred to the waiting helicopter, which had landed on a nearby green, and rushed to hospital.

The third casualty returned to Trearddur Bay on board the Atlantic 75, where there was an ambulance waiting for him and he was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd as a precautionary measure.

All three were treated for exposure and monitored for secondary drowning. Thankfully, they all made a full recovery.This was a particularly difficult and dangerous rescue, involving complete cooperation between three lifeboats, the RAF, the North Wales Police and local cliff rescue teams. The combination of elements meant that the Atlantic 75 was operating for over an hour in sea conditions that were at the limit of its capabilities. There is, however, an unusual twist to the ending. The Dorothy Selina was funded by a generous donation from Mr Reg Dawe of Hereford, who named the lifeboat after his late wife. It so happened that Mr Dawe and his family were visiting the lifeboat station during this rescue and they were able to witness first hand the fine work being carried out by their lifeboat.

That evening some of the crew joined Mr Dawe and his family for a meal at a nearby hotel. Afterwards, the wife and mother of two of the rescued men came in to emotionally thank Mr Dawe for donating the lifeboat that had saved her husband, son and a family friend. It is worth remembering that, as well as the volunteer crew and others at the lifeboat station, it is people like Mr Dawe who make these rescues possible.THE LIFEBOATS Treatddur Bay Atlant* 75 lifeboal B 731 Dorothy Setitti Funding A generou* gift from Mr Reg Dawe of Hereford D class lifeboat D-441 Irish Divtr Funding The Irish Underwater Council Aiun class lifeboat ON-1 1 23 62-37 Kennrttt Thelwall Funding The generous bequeit of Mr Kennelh Thelwall THE CREW Atlantic 7S lifeboal Helmsman Chris Pritchard Crew Members Terry Pendlebury Dave Hick etts D class lifeboat Helms man Anthony Sum man Crew Members Lee Duncan Aubrey D'ggle Arun class lif eboit Coxswain Brian Thomson Crew Members Iwan Williams Sean Doody Robin Owen Stuart Cramp Geoffrey Shaw TREARDDUR BAY LIFEBOAT STATION Established 1967 Previous Medals Bronze 19711x21.