They had been genning up on their capital cities and were just about to tuck into their meals. However, local lifeboat volunteers had to drop everything in the middle of a fundraising quiz evening in order to respond to a yacht in trouble in stormy seas.

Crew members had just received their meals prior to the charity fundraising quiz at The Royal Oak, Fishguard when requested to launch.

HM Coastguard requested the launch of the charity’s Trent class all weather lifeboat (ALB) Blue Peter VII at 7.28pm on Thursday, September 5, just as crew were gathering for a charity pub quiz night being held to raise funds for Fishguard RNLI.

Crew had just been brought their meals when the pagers sounded. The crew was tasked to the aid of yacht which in the Cemaes Head area. The vessel was making way for Fishguard, having been unable to gain access to Cardigan due to the stormy conditions.

The yacht was one of three travelling as a group but had suffered engine failure and was making little headway under sail.

While en-route to the casualty the lifeboat and its volunteer crew experienced sea swells up to four metres in height. Upon reaching the casualty an assessment was carried out on the best means of assisting them.

Although the yacht was making slow headway, it would have taken considerable time to make the journey. This would have increased the risk to the casualty as the conditions could have quickly led the crew to become fatigued and cold.

Given this, and the risk involved in transferring people between vessels in such conditions, the decision was made to pass a tow line to the yacht and take it under tow to the nearest safe port of Fishguard.

On arrival in Fishguard harbour the yacht was manoeuvred into position to pick up the station’s casualty mooring where it could spend the night and its owner could assess the repairs required for the onward journey.

While the lifeboat was assisting the yacht, shore-based volunteers from Fishguard RNLI continued with the charity quiz and fundraising raffle. In total the evening raised £326.

Volunteer all weather lifeboat crew and trainee navigator, Jessica Rogers, said: “As is typical in the life of a volunteer, one moment I was settling down for a fun evening at a quiz and not 20 minutes later I was heading out on the rough sea.

“This was a challenging shout for the crew due to the sea conditions and the onset of darkness, but the team worked well together and despite the challenges managed to establish a tow to the grateful yacht and bring it back safely to Fishguard harbour.

“This yacht had VHF radio and was travelling in a group so had support and a means of calling for help when it got into trouble. We would always encourage people heading out to sea to check the weather forecast in advance, carry a means of calling for help and let someone know your expected route and arrival time.

“Despite the rough ride, everyone was all smiles once we made it back to the station shortly before midnight, crew and casualty alike.”