The volunteer crew at Selsey RNLI Lifeboat were paged at 6.32 p.m. on Saturday 21st February 2015. They were requested to go to the assistance of the 35-foot yacht, 'Moon Tiger', which was towing another 35-foot yacht, 'Third Love'.
At a position approximately 5.5 miles east of Selsey Bill the rudder of 'Third Love' became caught in a fisherman's pot line. In the attempt to free the vessel the tow line became entangled in the propeller of 'Moon Tiger' effectively disabling both yachts. 'Moon Tiger' called the Solent Coastguard for assistance via the emergency phone service on a mobile phone.
The Tyne class Lifeboat 'Voluntary Worker' launched at 6.46 p.m. with a crew of seven and proceeded to the given position. At 7.08 p.m. the lifeboat arrived on scene to find that 'Moon Tiger' had become free from the tow line. The crew of two had already taken the one man off of 'Third Love' so all three were now on board 'Moon Tiger'. The weather on scene was wind force 4-5 north-west with a moderate sea state on a clear night. The 2nd Coxswain, Willy Pledger, was transferred to 'Moon Tiger' to assess the problems as communication with the yacht were very poor. At 7.27 p.m. the Coxswain of the Lifeboat, Martin Rudwick, decided to request the assistance of the Littlehampton Atlantic 75 class Lifeboat, 'Blue Peter 1', to tow 'Moon Tiger'. When 'Blue Peter 1' arrived on scene at 8.14 p.m. they transferred the 2nd Coxswain back to the Selsey Lifeboat before a tow was established between them and 'Moon Tiger' and a course was set for Littlehampton Harbour.
'Voluntary Worker' proceeded to 'Third Love' which had drifted 0.5 mile away and 2nd Coxswain Willy Pledger and Colin Pullenger were transferred to the casualty to establish a tow, and once this was completed, a course was set for Littlehampton Harbour. With low water at Littlehampton Harbour due at 7.00 p.m. there would not be enough water depth at the entrance for the yachts to be safely towed into the harbour until at least 9.30 p.m. At 9.45 p.m. Littlehampton Lifeboat entered the harbour and safely berthed 'Moon Tiger' alongside. They then went back out to meet the Selsey Lifeboat and take over the tow of 'Third Love'.
After transferring the two Selsey crew back to the 'Voluntary Worker' Littlehampton Lifeboat transferred two of their own crew to 'Third Love' to establish a tow. When they started to tow the yacht into the harbour Selsey Lifeboat was released by Solent Coastguard to return to station. The Lifeboat arrived back at Selsey at 11.07 p.m., re-housing was started straight away, the boat was washed down, refuelled and made ready for the next launch by 11.55 p.m.
CREW: Martin Rudwick (Coxswain), Willy Pledger (2nd Coxswain), Geoff Mellett (Mechanic), Colin Pullenger, Craig Sergeant, Sam Troughton-Smith, and John Reeves.