As Sunday 12 June unfolded, lifeboat crews were called into action all around the coast, from the Firth of Forth to County Cork …

Given that lifeboats launched 24 times a day on average in 2010, this particular Sunday was exceptionally busy for the lifeboat service: RNLI crews launched 50 times. The weather was in part responsible, with many incidents involving leisurecraft struggling in unseasonally high winds, heavy rain and poor visibility. Here is a small selection:

2.13am
Two Danish men call for help when their yacht engine and steering fail in gale force winds 28 miles off the Cork coast. Baltimore lifeboat crew reach the yacht at 4am in swells of 5–6m. They manage to get alongside in their Tyne class Hilda Jarrett and a crew member jumps aboard to help the exhausted, seasick crew. In the meantime, Castletownbere volunteers also head to the scene, as their passage promises to be quicker and easier on the casualties. They pass a rope to their Baltimore colleague and pull the yacht and her crew to safety.

5.30am
Sennen Cove lifeboat crew respond in the all-weather City of London III to an injured yachtsman a mile off Cornwall’s south west tip. A volunteer crew member reaches the yacht in the Tamar class’s tiny Y boat once in the shelter of Sennen Bay. He provides casualty care before taking the man ashore to a waiting ambulance.

10am
Taking the opportunity to exercise in rough weather, the all-weather lifeboat at Poole, Dorset, went out to allow the crew and three trainees to experience near-gale force winds, gusting to gale force, with 4.5m seas.

1.18pm
When a lone skipper falls overboard into the cold waters of the Firth of Forth, he has a lifejacket and a safety line attaching him to his yacht, but he can’t get back onboard. He’s lucky that a nearby tug crew notice he’s in the water – they take him aboard and alert Queensferry lifeboat crew, who speed the man to shore.

2.05pm
Two yachtsmen off the Lancashire coast are having trouble with their sails in rough conditions. One of the men becomes very seasick. Her Majesty The Queen, the Lytham St Annes Mersey class lifeboat, and Bickerstaffe, Blackpool’s B class, team up to rescue them. The Blackpool volunteers pull the casualties aboard then transfer them to the larger, enclosed lifeboat. Two of them then sail the yacht back to shore.

2.17pm
A yacht is a mile north west of the Needles Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight when it is hit by mechanical and steering gear problems. Yarmouth lifeboat crew attend in their Severn class (main picture) The Eric and Susan Hiscock (Wanderer). In driving rain, force 8 winds and swells of 4m, they pass a tow rope and pull the yacht to the safety of harbour.

2.45pm
A group of divers is in danger of losing contact with their support boat off the coast of Devon when the vessel breaks down and drifts away. Salcombe’s volunteers take Atlantic 75 Joan Bate to the scene to search for the divers first. Having located and recovered them, they reunite the relieved group with their boat.

6.10pm
Two adults and two children are enjoying a sail off the west coast of Scotland when their liferaft’s quick-release mechanism accidentally activates. In worsening conditions, it fills with water and makes it impossible for the yacht to make headway, even under power. Troon lifeboat crew arrive on scene in their Trent class Jim Moffat and instruct the skipper to cut the liferaft free. They recover it, to avert false alarms, and then escort the foursome to Ardrossan Harbour.

9.20pm
Moelfre lifeboat crew are called upon twice in the same hour – first when there are reports of an emergency GPS signal received off Anglesey. But the all-weather lifeboat crew’s extensive search of the area aboard their relief vessel Max Aitken III reveals nothing, so it’s believed the signal may have come from a car travelling on a Dublin to Liverpool ferry! Meanwhile, the inshore lifeboat volunteers go to the aid of a man aboard his tender that has become separated from his yacht.

To find out which other stations launched on 12 June, you can study our listings on pages 42–44, and for alerts of lifeboat launches, sign up at rnli.org.uk/pager.