Honour for lifeboat hero who defied 30ft waves to save couple

A HEROIC lifeboat coxswain was yesterday honoured for his skill and gallantry in the daring rescue of a yacht's skipper and his wife in storm-lashed seas off Scotland's east coast.

Gary Fairbairn, the coxswain of the Dunbar lifeboat, received a top award from the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society in London for the rescue of a Swedish couple whose 24ft yacht was in danger of sinking 37 miles from the East Lothian coast.

At the annual skill and gallantry awards ceremony, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, the former First Sea Lord, presented one of the society's highest awards - the Lady Swaythling Trophy - to Mr Fairbairn in recognition of his "outstanding seamanship and teamwork" in the rescue of Jonas and Ingrid Akerblom from Gothenburg, the crew of the yacht Ouhm.

A spokeswoman for the society said: "The Lady Swaythling Trophy was awarded to Mr Fairbairn for his bravery and quick thinking when two sailors became caught in extreme weather conditions on 15 May last year. Their yacht was reported to have suffered two knockdowns and was drifting rapidly towards the shore of the Firth of Forth in the extreme conditions.

"As Coxswain Fairbairn set off with his crew across the treacherous seas towards the yacht, the lifeboat itself was damaged and almost capsized when it fell ten metres from the crest of a large wave. Despite being hit by several breaking seas resulting in the fendering being torn away, the bow fairlead unlatching and the salvage pump breaking free twice, the lifeboat ploughed on towards the struggling yacht.

"When the crew located the yacht - itself a difficult task in the high seas - the lifeboat faced the perilous task of getting alongside to retrieve the crew without causing a collision.

"After several attempts, Coxswain Fairbairn managed to get alongside the vessel and drag the couple aboard to safety. The yacht was abandoned since the conditions were too dangerous to tow it back to shore."

The rescue began after the yachtsman and his wife sent out a distress call after getting into difficulties in gale force 8 winds and very rough seas.

Mr Fairbairn said: "It's the worst sea we have ever been out in. When we reached the yacht there was a man and his wife aboard, and we decided it was impossible to tow them because of the conditions.

"We decided we had no choice but to go alongside the yacht and bring them aboard the lifeboat. The first time we tried, the lifeboat was hit by a massive wave, which knocked it right over on to its side.

"Once the boat righted itself we went back for another attempt and this time we managed to get within inches of the yacht and snatched the wife off the boat and into the safety of the lifeboat.We then did the same again with her husband."

Mr Fairbairn was awarded the Bronze Medal for Gallantry by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in July last year for his courage and outstanding seamanship during the rescue.

• The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society's annual Lord Lewin Award for an outstanding contribution to the work of the society was awarded to Betty McLean, a 72-year-old from Peterhead. A long-serving honorary agent for the society, she has been fundraising for it since 1953, and has raised at least 100,000 for seafarers in need.