A STERN TEST Inshore lifeboats are equipped with powerful engines to reach casualties quickly, but many rescues call for some strong handiwork too. Rory Stamp reports The skipper knew it wouldn’t be easy to get his yacht Sub Woofer back into Galway harbour. After a brisk evening sail on 5 May 2007, he and three friends were looking forward to motoring for home. But the strong westerly winds they’d experienced in the evening increased to near-gale force as midnight approached. A tidal current together with the rapid fl ow from the River Corrib (one of the most powerful rivers in Europe) made for surprisingly rough seas. And then the 9m yacht’s auxiliary engine cut out.

In the conditions, it was too dangerous to go down below to try and restart the engine.

Left without power, the skipper and his crew deployed an anchor but it dragged in the sand and mud below. They began to be swept towards the rocks of Rinmore Point. ‘We got very, very cold and took a bit of a beating,’ recalls the skipper, who radioed for help.

Galway inshore lifeboat crew members were paged at 11.45pm and, 15 minutes later, the B class Atlantic 75 Dóchas (which means ‘hope’) was launched. Aboard were Helmsman Brian Niland and Crew Members Ciaran Oliver and Michael Swan, pictured below from right to left. It was Brian’s fi rst rescue as Helmsman, and his boathandling skills faced a stern test.

Once the lifeboat was clear of the shelter of the harbour, the north westerly force 7 winds made for a challenging passage. The lifeboat crew caught sight of Sub Woofer within minutes. She was in an area of shallow, rocky water just 100m from the shore. It was too dangerous for Brian to motor alongside. Instead, he and the crew deployed an anchor, planning to reverse in from this fi xed point. By now the yacht had run aground, and the priority was to get her crew of four to safety. ‘If we had gone in under full power, the anchor would have dragged and we could have damaged the outboard engines on the rocks,’ says Ciaran. The crew agreed that the solution was to slowly but surely bring her alongside using a rope.

Ciaran entered the water with a tow line and swam through the confused seas. ‘It wasn’t too cold – the crew kit did its job,’ he remembers. He was helped aboard the Sub Woofer and attached the line to one of the yacht’s winches. Meanwhile, Brian and Michael shut down the lifeboat engines, raising them from the water to protect the propellers. While they slackened the anchor line, Ciaran and the yacht crew heaved on the tow line, pulling the lifeboat through the rocky waters and towards the yacht.

The lifeboat was nearing stern fi rst, which would make it diffi cult for the yacht crew to climb aboard over the raised engines. ‘That meant that we had to set up another line to bring us in at an angle – it involved a lot of concentration but we did it and they got aboard safely,’ says Ciaran.

With everyone off the yacht, Ciaran, Michael and Brian heaved the lifeboat back to the deeper water, where they recovered their anchor and restarted their engines. By 1.06am, they were all back at the lifeboat station.

‘I couldn’t speak more highly of the crew,’ said Sub Woofer’s skipper, whose yacht was recovered when the weather had calmed down. ‘They gave up a night’s sleep to come and get us.’ Galway Lifeboat Operations Manager Pat Lavelle says: ‘Brian was with two experienced crew members but everything he did was using his own initiative. It’s a treacherous area and the weather was pretty bad.

‘It was a relief to see them all come back in one piece.’ In a letter to the Galway crew, the RNLI’s Chief Executive Andrew Freemantle wrote: ‘This was a well-led and professionally executed service, which demonstrated fi rstclass seamanship and teamwork by all the crew of the inshore lifeboat. Well done, all of you!’ Galway harbour x Lough Atalia River Corrib Ebbing tide Yacht aground Lifeboat veering in from here x ? ? ? .