'Every second counts' - Whitby RNLI rescues rowers after boat capsizes off coast

The pair were attempting to return to the shelter of the harbour when they got into difficulty on Saturday December 16.

The experienced rowers had headed out in the calm conditions of the harbour but upon exiting the pier ends, had noticed a strong cross-shore wind picking up.

They decided to head back to harbour but upon attempting to turn around their boat overturned and the pair ended up in the water.

They signalled to another rower to dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard as they knew the conditions would make it difficult to conduct a buddy rescue.

Jonathan Marr, who was helm on the inshore lifeboat, said: “When you hear that you are attending a shout to two people in the water, you know you need to get there quickly as every second counts.

"When we arrived we were relieved to see that both casualties were wearing lifejackets and had managed to climb onto the upturned hull of their rowing boat.

The vessel the rowing boat had drifted about a mile off shore when they were reached by the RNLI volunteers,

Jonathan added: “We later learned they had undertaken capsize training which was invaluable in this incident as it’s very easy to panic when you end up in cold water unexpectedly.”

The pair were transferred to the inshore lifeboat and brought to the lifeboat station where they were checked over for hypothermia by paramedics.