The coxswain of the Achill Island lifeboat is to be given one of its highest awards by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for the rescue of three crew on board a Donegal fishing vessel off Achill Head earlier this year.
Mr Brian Patten (46) is the first Irish lifeboat crew member in 21 years to receive the RNLI's silver medal. The rest of his crew will be presented with letters of appreciation and medal service badges at a ceremony in London next May.
The rescue took place on February 27th last, when a 23-metre fishing vessel, Carrigeen Bay, suffered engine failure three miles off Achill Head and began to drift rapidly ashore. The Arun-class lifeboat proceeded at full speed towards the casualty.
Battling against severe gale force nine winds and eight-metrehigh seas, the coxswain, Mr Patten, and his crew managed to take the fishing vessel in tow - within an estimated eight minutes of it running aground on the rocks.
The announcement was made at the weekend as Achill's new Trent class lifeboat, the RNLI Sam and Ada Moody, was named. The vessel was partly funded from the legacy of Mrs Ada Moody of Richmond, Surrey, who ran a metal foundry with her husband, Sam. Family members travelled to Achill for the naming ceremony.
