HM Coastguard paged Porthcawl RNLI crew and requested they launch to assess the situation and provide safety cover to Llantwit Major Coastguard Team.

In the early hours of the morning a yacht had made a distress call to HM Coastguard after it ran aground and was being battered within the surf.

The charity’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Rose of the Shires was launched on service and made best speed to the location, over 9 nautical miles from Porthcawl. The charity’s relief D class, Peggy D was also requested to launch at 6.09am to provide further assistance due to its ability to operate closer inshore.

The Atlantic 85 was the first lifeboat to arrive on scene. The yacht was located in the surfline and was rolling in the surf which was consistently around 3 foot with larger sets. Following the helm’s assessment of the situation they decided to put two crew ashore to assist Llantwit Major Coastguard in getting the casualty off the yacht and to safety ashore. The casualty had become trapped beneath some loose items in the cockpit and once freed by one of the Coastguard team was helped to safety by Coastguard’s and our volunteer crew.
The crew who went ashore found the yacht had sustained significant damage during the incident and was taking on water through its hull.
The D Class crew recovered the two crew members from the shore and both lifeboats were then stood down from the incident by HM Coastguard.