An icy plunge When Portsmouth's volunteers heard that a man was trapped in icy waters below a pier, they knew they were in a race against timePolice officers had been called to Portsmouth's South Marine Parade Pier on the evening of 10 January 2005 when a man was seen in the freezing cold sea below. Shining their torches down onto the water, they saw waves battering the man against the barnacle-encrusted legs of the pier. He seemed unable to swim to safety.

The Police alerted Solent Coastguard, who in turn requested the launch of a lifeboat from Portsmouth. Within 10 minutes the Atlantic 75 CSMA Frizzell launched with Helmsman John Brooks and Crew Members Paul Clark and Tobi O'Neill aboard. In order to reach the pier, John headed out of Langstone Harbour (where the lifeboat station is based) and followed the coastline to the west. Once out of theharbour's shelter, the team faced moderate to rough seas and a fresh breeze from the west, gusting up to force 6: 'It wasn't the worst weather I've been out in but it was pretty evil,' recalls Tobi.

Despite the challenging conditions, the lifeboat arrived at the pier just three minutes after launching. The light from the police officers' torches helped the crew quickly spot the man on the east side of the pier. John made a swift approach alongside the pier, heading to sea as he drew close to the struggling man. He was apparently trapped by something and large waves were going over his head. He was certainly in danger of drowning The structure right under the pier is complex - it wasn't a very safe place for someone to be swimming and we couldn't have got the lifeboat under there,'John explains. 'I realised that the only way to reach the man was for one of us to enter the water. Full credit goes to Tobi and Paul because they showed no hesitation when I asked them.' The two crew members swam to the casualty with some difficulty: they were close to the surf line and took freezing cold waves in the face time and again.

Meanwhile, their helmsman showed exceptional seamanship by keeping the lifeboat close, despite the powerful waves and dangerous structure nearby, and operating the radio at the same time. 'The lifeboat handled superbly,' says John. 'I have 100% faith in these boats, and ours is maintained by an excellent station mechanic and the centre at Cowes.' Upon reaching the casualty,Tobi and Paul discovered that the man was snared in a submerged electric cable. Tobi remembers: 'I was trying to speak to him but he was extremely distressed and there were large waves breaking around us. He was only wearing jeans and a T-shirt.' Paul adds: 'If we had arrived a minute later he would have been a goner. That's why we had to jump in. His teeth were chattering and he could barely speak.' While Paul kept the casualty's head above water, Tobi attempted to loosen the cable. 'The RNLI has excellent training but it is hard to prepare for a situation like that,' he says. 'We have knives but they're not for electric cable! It was a strange sensation: one minute we were treading water and being bashed against a post bya wave, the next we were touching the seabed.' Eventually, Tobi managed to free the man and John quickly moved in with the lifeboat. He left the helm briefly to help Paul aboard, who in turn pulled the casualty and Tobi into the lifeboat. By now, an ambulance (which had been called by the Police) had arrived on the beach.

John took the lifeboat into the beach close as he could without hitting the bottom, then faced head to sea and instructed the crew to jump out of the stern with the survivor. 'He was obviously reluctant to get back into the water but, a rigid inflatable, it was the quickest way get him to safety,' explains John.

Tobi and Paul carefully brought the casualty to shore and handed him over to the waiting paramedics, informing them his condition and injuries. 'The whole thing ran like clockwork,' says Tobi,'and it felt really good to know we'd saved him.' Paul adds: 'It was a good bit of work with all the other emergency services.

'If we hadn't got there when we did, he would have been dragged under and died.' In recognition of their actions, Crew Members Paul Clark and Tobi O'Neill are awarded the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum, while Helmsman John Brooks receives a Framed Letter of Thanks from the RNLI's Chairman, Sir Jock Slater. 'It's nice to get recognition for the crew - it boosts morale,' says John. 'After the shout I remember thinking: "Well, that's bloody good - we've just saved a life!"1 Richard Wynn, Training Divisional Inspector for the East, says: 'While this was not a lengthy service, it was carried out in atrocious weather conditions with the sea temperature close to freezing and the tide still flooding. Thanks to the actions of the Helmsman and crew of the Atlantic 75, a man's life has been saved.' The casualty remains unidentified.THE DETAIL THE DATE AND TIME Monday 10 January 2005,9.07pm-9.30pm THE CASUALTY One man THE CONDITIONS Dark Weather: Cold, overcast.

Wind: Fresh breeze from west gusting to force 6 Sea state: Moderate to rough 1.5m swell THE CREW Helmsman: John Brooks (44, marine engineer). Crew Members: Paul Clark (36, Royal Navy Petty Officer) Tobi O'Neill (25, trials skipper/technician) THE LIFEBOAT B-730 Atlantic 75 inshore CSMA Frizzell On station: 1996 Funding: £64,000 raised by members of the Civil Service Motoring Association (CSMA) Ltd (their fourth lifeboat) and Frizzell financial services.

THE LIFEBOAT STATION Portsmouth (previously called Eastney lifeboat station and Portsmouth (Langstone Harbour) lifeboat station) Established: 1965 Other lifeboats: a D class (1965), a McLachlan class added (1967), McLachlan replaced with a B class Atlantic 21 (1975),Atlantic 21 replaced with current Atlantic 75 (1996), D class replaced with current D class Heylandll (2000) Previous RNLI awards: Bronze Medal to: Helmsman Dennis Faro (1973); Helmsman Sydney Thayers and Crew Members William Hawkins and Dennis Faro (1974). Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to: IT McLachlan, D Cook-Radmore and S Thayers (1965); Robert John Faro and Roy Richards (1967); IT McLachlan, P Bannister and RB Needle (1970); B Needle (1970); Helmsman John Fletcher (1972); Helmsman Martin Icke and Crew Members Paul Venton and Adrian West (1989); Helmsman Martin Icke (1996). Framed Letters of Thanks to Helmsman Stephen Alexander and Crew Members Adrian West, Paul Venton and James Beach (1988)..