The coxswain of Islay lifeboat and his volunteer crew have been presented with awards after saving a yachtsman’s life during a storm.
Coxswain David MacLellan, 46, was given the RNLI Bronze Medal for Gallantry – one of the charity’s highest accolades – for his display of great skill and seamanship in extremely gruelling conditions.
The presentation was made in front of more than 120 people at Bowmore Hall on Islay.
The RNLI’s chief executive Paul Boissier, who handed out the honour, said: “The medal is awarded in recognition of your personal courage, your leadership and remarkable seamanship on that night. You fully deserve this medal and I know you will wear it with enormous pride for years to come.”
Mr MacLellan, who has been with the charity since 1990, added: “I might have been the one making the decisions and helming the boat, but this was a fantastic team effort with the crew on the deck doing the hard work.
“We have a good team here on Islay with the crew, operations and fundraisers. The fundraisers do a fantastic job every year to provide the community with the best possible boat and equipment.”
His four crew members were also recognised for their part in the rescue, an operation which lasted 18 hours on February 16 2016.
Mechanic David McArthur, 42; navigator Thomas Coope, 31; crew member Duncan MacGillivray, 32; and crew member Peter Thomson, 38 received framed letters of thanks from the RNLI chairman.
Captain Martin Porter 62, of the Deep Energy pipelay vessel, was also the recipient of a framed letter of thanks from the RNLI chairman.
Captain Porter handed over a cheque for £500 to Mr Boissier, at the same time as declaring he was honoured to be at the ceremony.
The rescue was one of 1,102 call-outs attended by RNLI volunteers from 46 lifeboat stations in Scotland in 2016, one of the charity’s busiest years, where they were responsible for saving many lives in dangerous conditions.
The Islay lifeboat crew had to contend with extremely challenging weather that included winds of nearly 60 knots, driving sleet and treacherous sea conditions as they helped a yacht, Vestavind II, that had struck rocks at Skerryvore Reef and then started drifting.
The crew tried several times to make the Russian yachtsman tie the tow rope to his boat but attempts floundered in the face of appalling weather and the yachtsman’s difficulty in understanding what was required of him.
Eventually, he left the drifting yacht and climbed aboard Deep Energy from where he was airlifted to safety, but only after everybody involved in the drama had experienced the power and peril of the sea.
The Islay lifeboat Helmut Schroder of Dunlossit II had left station at 12.45am on February 16 2016 and returned at 6.20pm. The RNLI’s Barra lifeboat was also in attendance.