Culdrose lifesavers hone skills with local lifeboat

Crashing into the waters of Kilcobben Cove, the Lizard lifeboat Rose launches on another mission.

This time, however, it’s just a practice.

The £2.7m Tamar-class boat is bound for a rendezvous with the Ace of Clubs – the rescue fliers of 771 Naval Air Squadron, for a spot of winching off the UK’s most southerly point.

The Lizard lifeboat – which enjoys a new £7.4m station about one mile from the Lizard Point on the peninsula’s more sheltered but still rugged eastern shore – is called out around once a month to deal with emergencies off the southern coast of Cornwall, and a good number of those ‘shouts’ also involves the distinctive red and grey Sea Kings.

One in every seven missions accomplished by military Search and Rescue units in the UK in 2011 was flown by the Culdrose-based squadron – 244 scrambles in all.

Winching on to the deck of RNLB Rose is not merely a task the 771 crews carry out for real, but it also replicates the art of ‘hi-line’ transfers – fundamental to plucking stricken mariners off yachts and trawlers in distress.

A long length of rope, the hi-line, is lowered towards the sailors on the vessel below. The line has a weighted bag at the bottom to make guiding it easier – and safer – and a few feet up from the bag there’s a pictogram – not entirely dissimilar to Ikea instructions – so all nationalities can understand what to do.

The line will not save your life – it merely serves as a guideline for the aircrewman to follow when he's winched down.

The helicopter is guided into position visually by the observer leaning out of the door, providing a constant running commentary to the pilot.

Once safely in the hands of the rescuee, it's time for the aircrewman to be lowered, holding on to the line all the way down.

The whole exercise tests winchman, observer and pilot – the latter has to keep the helicopter in a hover, yet moving forward to keep pace with the boat, avoiding dangerous obstructions such as the vessel’s masts in all weather conditions.