THE COURTMASCSHERRY ALL Weather RNLI lifeboat came to the aid of a 40ft yacht with four people on board after it got into difficulties 21 miles south east of the Old Head of Kinsale in West Cork.

A call for help was made early this morning at 4.35 am and the vessel Frederick Storey Cockburn was dispatched at 4.47am with coxswain Ken Cashman leading a crew of six.

The yacht was travelling from Spain to Cobh had developed mechanical and other difficulties in an area with moderate wind and waves of approximately 2-3 meters in height and had requested assistance.  

Once the lifeboat reached the area at 5.45 am, lifeboat coxswain Ken Cashman and crew assessed the situation and decided to attach a towline to the disabled boat and proceed under tow at a safe speed in choppy waters to the nearest port of Courtmacsherry.

The lifeboat arrived back to the safe surrounds of the Courtmacsherry Harbour pontoon at 8.30am with the yacht in tow.

The Courtmacsherry RNLI lifeboat press officer, Vincent O Donovan,  said: “It was great to see so many of our volunteers respond so quickly from their beds early this morning to this callout and it was prudent that the yacht made a decision early this morning to seek assistance in some heavy seas as they had battled the elements from 100 miles off shore”.

The volunteer Courtmacsherry Lifeboat Crew involved in this morning’s callout were coxswain Ken Cashman, mechanic Chris Guy and crew members Mark John Gannon, Dara Gannon, Donal Young, Ciaran Hurley and Denis Murphy.

This was their third callout in the last three days with a search for a reported missing swimmer off Garrettstown, Cork,  on Thursday, who subsequently had got to shore themselves and the rescue of a 13ft rigid inflatable boat with one person on board on the same day.