This in from Cowes RNLI, in their own words. Ed
Cowes RNLI lifeboat dashed across the Solent Saturday afternoon to go to the aid of a 37 foot ocean racer, brought to a sudden halt in the western Solent because of one small yellow buoy.
The Gunshot, on passage from Chichester to Beaulieu with five people on board, radioed Solent coastguards that they appeared to have been fouled by a rope attached to a buoy at Bourne Gap, off Hampshire’s Stanswood Bay.
When the lifeboat, with Richard O’Callaghan at the helm, arrived on the scene two crewmen, Patrick Moreton and Steve Price, went into the sea to try to free the rope, which seemed to have become caught on the propeller or rudder.
As the lifeboat began towing the yacht the line finally broke free; it was, no longer, however, was it attached to its buoy which was retrieved by the yacht crew.
Although the Gunshot was able to proceed under its own power, as a precaution the lifeboat provided an escort as far as the entrance to Beaulieu River.
