The Lydd-based HM Coastguard rescue helicopter team and crew of the RNLI Newhaven lifeboat are the worthy recipients of this year’s International Ocean Safety Award for the hazardous joint operation to rescue an injured sailor stranded aboard his yacht as it broke up on rocks during a storm off Newhaven Harbour UK on 4^th June 2024.

The Award, sponsored by Ocean Safety Ltd was presented by the International Association of Cape Horners at their annual lunch at the Royal Marine Hotel, Portsmouth on Saturday 22nd November.

The Lydd based Coastguard Rescue helicopter team and crew of the RNLI Newhaven lifeboat crew are the worthy recipients of this year’s International Ocean Safety Award for the hazardous joint operation to rescue an injured sailor stranded aboard his yacht as it broke up on rocks during a storm off Newhaven Harbour UK on 4th June 2024

Facebook link to rescue video

Alistair Hackett, Managing Director of Ocean Safety Ltd based in Southampton said at the Awards ceremony, “This was one of the most remarkable rescues I’ve ever witnessed, testing the co-ordination and professionalism between HM Coastguard, the NCI volunteer watchkeepers who first spotted the distressed yacht, the RNLI Newhaven lifeboat crew led by Coxswain Lewis Arnold and the Lydd-based HM Coastguardhelicopter rescue team provided by Bristow and piloted by Chris Trubshaw.

The lifeboat was operating in very shallow surf and  the HM  Coastguard helicopter, which was short on fuel and at the limit of its  range, had just minutes to pluck the injured sailor from the yacht as it broke  up on the rocks beneath the harbour wall.  Winch  Paramedic Chris Purkiss not only had to brave crashing surf as the yacht broke up but physically hold the injured sailor as the two were winched clear of the wreckage.

This year’s international award is thoroughly deserved by all those involved.”

Matt Leat, Assistant Chief Coastguard, who accepted the award on behalf of the helicopter crew, added:

“Congratulations to the crew of the Lydd-based HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter who are rightly being honoured for their skill, determination and bravery.

“I am proud to work alongside Chris, his colleagues and the many teams, crews and individuals, including our partners at Bristow, that make HM Coastguard a truly exceptional emergency service committed to saving lives at sea.”

Lewis Arnold, coxswain of the RNLI Newhaven lifeboat said: “This started as a routine day. We thought we had been called out simply to check on someone anchored off the harbour. But the tide changed and the wind picked up. When we reached the end of the breakwater (protecting the entrance to Newhaven Harbour) the lifeboat was knocked right over, and I thought ‘Oh my God – this is a bit more than I thought.

My plan was to keep the lifeboat crew safe and try to get the guy off his boat. Normally, it takes time to get other rescue assets together, but luckily the rescue helicopter was already in the air on a training mission and still had sufficient fuel to join us.

For the first 15 minutes, the man didn’t want to get off. He was a live-aboard, the boat was all he had, and he was down below getting all his personal effects together.

When his anchor line snapped, and the yacht was being swept towards the rocks, we had no more than 1metre under our boat. If the helicopter had not joined the rescue at that time, it would have been game over for the chap.

It was all down to teamwork: The NCI volunteers calling in the situation early; the shoreside rescue team and ambulance crew, the helicopter and the lifeboat, we managed to save this chap’s life while keeping all of us safe.”

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, President of the Cape Horners Association said “This safety award is now part of a fresh initiative that we Cape Horners are taking to instigate research and promotion of all aspects of safety at sea, and I applaud the level of coordination and professionalism shown by the Coastguard and RNLI crews. For the solo sailor concerned, this was a miraculous rescue operation.”