At 15:46 on Saturday 6th June, our All Weather lifeboat Diamond Jubilee was paged by UK Coastguard in response to a Mayday call from a Belgian yacht requesting assistance with a jammed foresail.
Despite the fact that the yacht’s engine was still running, it was unable to make headway and was being swept away by the strong wind and tide just off Broadstairs.
The lifeboat proceeded at best speed to the casualty in the Southerly near gale force 7 wind. On scene a tow was established and the lifeboat and casualty began the slow passage back to Ramsgate as it had still not been possible to lower the jammed foresail. En route to Ramsgate, the sail began to shred in the wind, and eventually the forward stay failed and the mast collapsed. Photos courtesy of Mark Stanford.
