Three sailors are safe after Clifden RNLI’s volunteer crew towed their disabled yacht through a westerly gale off Inishbofin last week, in seas the lifeboat station says were getting steadily more difficult.
The 46-foot yacht lost its engine south-west of the island. Its crew were trying to reach Cleggan Harbour under sail as conditions got worse around them.
How the rescue unfolded
According to an account of the call-out published by Irish lifeboat news site Irish Lifeboats, the crew were tasked shortly after midday on Wednesday 21 October. Clifden’s Shannon-class all-weather lifeboat launched at 12.20pm.
Six volunteers were on board: James Mullen, Joseph Acton, Ronan Mullen, Caroline Barry, Shane Conneely and Neil Gallery. Newly qualified launch vehicle driver Liam Coyne put the boat to sea.
When the lifeboat reached the yacht, a strong westerly gale was blowing and swells were running at three to four metres, making the yacht’s passage under sail harder by the minute. The lifeboat crew talked through the options with the skipper and decided that a tow was the safest course.
A tow line was set up and the lifeboat brought the yacht into Cleggan. Both vessels came safely alongside Cleggan Pier with all three people on board unharmed.
A busy, stormy October on the Connemara coast
The rescue came at the start of a rough spell on the west coast. Within days, Storm Austen and then Storm Boelo hit Ireland, with Galway under orange wind and rain warnings on Saturday 24 October and roads in north-west Connemara flooded.
The waters between Cleggan and Inishbofin are busy with ferries, fishing boats, leisure craft and visiting yachts through the summer and autumn, and the crossing can turn rough very quickly when Atlantic weather comes in. Clifden RNLI operates both an all-weather lifeboat and a faster Atlantic 85 inshore boat, and it has a long record of call-outs to yachts in trouble around the island. In 2019, for example, both boats were used to help a yacht that lost its dinghy between Inishbofin and Davillaun.
Conditions offshore got worse over the following weekend. When Storm Boelo arrived on Saturday 24 October, Met Éireann issued a red marine warning for the north-west coast, warning that westerly winds could reach violent storm force 11 at times, according to RTÉ. Galway was under orange wind and rain alerts. A yacht with a dead engine in those conditions would have been in far more serious trouble, which is a reminder of how quickly a routine passage to Cleggan can become dangerous at this time of year.
The safety message from Clifden’s coxswain
Coxswain James Mullen credited the crew’s regular training for how smoothly the operation went. He also repeated the RNLI’s standard advice for anyone going to sea:
- check the tides and the weather forecast before setting out;
- always carry a way of calling for help, such as a VHF radio or a charged phone in a waterproof pouch;
- wear a lifejacket or buoyancy aid;
- if you get into difficulty, or see someone who has, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.
That advice matters more as autumn turns to winter. With saturated ground, high tides and a run of Atlantic low-pressure systems, the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management and the Irish Coast Guard urged people to keep away from exposed coastlines during the recent storm warnings.
Winter crossings to the islands carry extra risk. Daylight is shorter, the water is colder and the swell can build quickly, so skippers have less room for error if an engine fails or a sail tears. Lifeboat crews generally prefer an early call for help to a late one. A crew that raises the alarm while a problem is still manageable makes it much more likely the call-out ends, like this one, with a calm tow into harbour.
What happens next
The lifeboat was returned to station and made ready for its next call. Like every RNLI station, Clifden is crewed by volunteers and funded largely by public donations. Local fundraising events over the winter help pay for training and equipment. Anyone planning a late-season sailing trip around Inishbofin or the north Connemara islands is urged to check Met Éireann’s sea area forecasts and small craft warnings before leaving harbour.
Sources
- Irish Lifeboats: Clifden RNLI rescues three sailors after yacht suffers engine failure off Inishbofin (22 October 2026)
- Galway Daily: Clifden lifeboats help distressed yacht in rough seas (4 August 2019)
- RTÉ News: Storm Boelo to bring severe winds and rain across Ireland (24 October 2026)
- The Irish Times: Storm Boelo: Flood warnings issued for nine coastal counties and riverside areas (24 October 2026)
Featured image: Inishbofin Bofin Harbour Bay 2018 09 03 by Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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