Three quick-thinking Australian sailors have received Yachting Victoria’s President’s Awards for rescuing three fishermen in the water after spotting a flare.
John Mills, Tanya Lawton and Jason Ettridge won the honour for rescuing the fishermen one day in March while patrolling during a Mornington Yacht Club race day, reports the Mornington Peninsula website.
The trio, on the club’s start boat, Retriever, spotted a flare and reached the disabled boat and the men in the water. Despite a cold southerly wind and big swell, they rescued the fishermen, who were weighed down by their warm clothes.
Tanya Lawton, a nurse, cared for the rescued men, while the stricken boat was towed back towards the harbour until The Coast Guard arrived to take over.
“It could have been a whole lot worse if they [the rescuers] were not there and able to react as they did,” says Mr Austin.
ago. 05, 2016