Single Handed MOB off Selsey - Rescue

Mark-1

Mark-1

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A nearby yacht picked him up, so an AIS PLB or a mayday relay from the PLB?

Or did they just notice sails flapping or was he cruising in company?
 
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Good news. For those that don’t use Facebook:-

21 August 2025

Selsey RNLI launched to Man overboard from yacht

UK Coastguard received an emergency alert from a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) indicating a man overboard from a yacht approximately four nautical miles south from Chichester harbour entrance.

Both Selsey and Bembridge all-weather lifeboats were requested to launch.

The Selsey All-weather lifeboat (ALB) launched at 4.20pm and requested straight away to locate the yacht the man had come off as it was now sailing with no persons onboard.

Bembridge ALB was tasked to recover the man from a yacht which had responded to PLB alert and were able to recover the man from the water within 15 minutes of falling over the side.

At 4.32pm Selsey ALB found the yacht 2.2nm southwest from Selsey Bill and at 4.36pm transferred two lifeboat crewmembers to the vessel to take control.

The Coxswain decided to transfer a third crewmember to the yacht to assist with the sails so the yacht could be sailed towards Chichester harbour with the ALB escorting.

After medically assessing the casualty and declaring him not needing hospital treatment the Bembridge ALB brought him to the Selsey ALB and transferred him.

The Bembridge ALB returned to station.

As the yacht and lifeboat arrived off Chichester harbour the skipper of the yacht was transferred back to his yacht.

Both vessels entered Chichester harbour at 5. 55pm and the yacht was placed on a visitor mooring.

This was reported to the Coastguard who were happy to release the Selsey ALB.

At 6.35pm the ALB departed Chichester Harbour bound for Selsey.

Coxswain Colin Pullenger said ‘ almost exactly a week ago today we recovered a yachtsman alive from the water after 4.5hrs wearing just shorts after his yacht came ashore, today a yachtsman has been recovered within 15 minutes of entering the water wearing a lifejacket with a PLB and handheld VHF radio attached’

At 7.10pm the ALB arrived back at Selsey and was recovered straight away.
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Such a fast response time. Good news and it certainly demonstrates the effectiveness of PLBs. I have been wary of how effective they are based on antenna orientation risks, but 15 minutes is fast rescue from PLB alert to retrieve.

It would be interesting to which type of PLB.
 
I find the response time really quite difficult to rationalise. I’m not familiar with the area, but the Bembridge boat looks to have had to travel at least 4nm so that’s 10mins flat out. Did it really only take 5 mins to receive the PLB, request the the lifeboat, set the pagers off, travel to the lifeboat house, change and launch?
 
boomerangben said:
I find the response time really quite difficult to rationalise. I’m not familiar with the area, but the Bembridge boat looks to have had to travel at least 4nm so that’s 10mins flat out. Did it really only take 5 mins to receive the PLB, request the the lifeboat, set the pagers off, travel to the lifeboat house, change and launch?
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The rescue was carried out by a yacht. Presumably they heard him on his VHF (or by VHF relay from the CG).

The RNLI arrived later.

I did wonder of the yachts were actually cruising in company, becaise 15 minutes is pretty good going.

As always the reporting is abysmal.


I'm also intrigued by the MOB who was in the water for 4.5 hours the week before. That seems quite a tale to tell.
 
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UK Coastguard received an emergency alert from a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) indicating a man overboard from a yacht approximately four nautical miles south from Chichester harbour entrance.
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This could mean an AIS MOB device, or that he included something to the effect of "I sail solo; if this goes off I'm likely overboard" in the beacon registration notes. At only four miles from the harbour it could be either, and the former would allow the nearby vessel to move quickly on its own

The COSPAS-SARSAT system is much improved in recent years, but even so I'm not sure the beacon location would be considered resolved that quickly.
 
requiem said:
This could mean an AIS MOB device, or that he included something to the effect of "I sail solo; if this goes off I'm likely overboard" in the beacon registration notes. At only four miles from the harbour it could be either, and the former would allow the nearby vessel to move quickly on its own

The COSPAS-SARSAT system is much improved in recent years, but even so I'm not sure the beacon location would be considered resolved that quickly.
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He was rescued by a Yacht within 15 minutes of going over. We're not told how the yacht was made aware of the situation but there are a fair few possibilities.

My money is the MOB's HH VHF.
 
Bembridge ALB was tasked to recover the man from a yacht which had responded to PLB alert and were able to recover the man from the water within 15 minutes of falling over the side.
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This is slightly ambiguous as it could mean the yacht or the ALB recovered the MOB from the water. I’m a big supporter of the RNLI but not such a big supporter of their reporting at times.
 
john_morris_uk said:
This is slightly ambiguous as it could mean the yacht or the ALB recovered the MOB from the water. I’m a big supporter of the RNLI but not such a big supporter of their reporting at times.
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I often mutter away to myself about the reporting of "local" lifeboat launches. The press officer is just another volunteer though, probably working with half the facts. They need to produce a brief press statement to get media coverage which requires the format and detail to be conscise - it needs to go out in a timely fashion and whilst the press officer might not be quite as urgently demanded as the crew they were probably not sitting with nothing else to do. The RNLI's objective is really to get media attention that says "please donate to help our heros", whereas the interesting fact on this story, for all the yachty readers, was that the RNLI didn't save a life here - a passing yacht did. I often note out local lifeboat reports the time from launch to on scene, and the exact time the boat got back to the station but often doesn't state the time from first call to CG (which of course they might not know) to launch.

Perhaps the actual yachting press might manage to piece together an actual timeline, I think readers would genuinely be interested in understanding the actual timeline and mechanisms here.
 
Mark-1 said:
My money is the MOB's HH VHF.
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I recall a similar case some years back, where the MOB had a VHF; he managed to get the alert out but nearby boats were having no luck locating him; I believe another stumbled upon him by chance. (It being both hard to spot someone in the water, and hard to talk on a VHF with water in the mic).

On the other hand, an inflatable PFD has nice visible bladders, which combined with a VHF would make things much easier for a boat already in visual range.
 
His kit is shown in an image on FB - an ocean signal MOB1 and a small VHF. I don't doubt that the VHF was probably what got the attention. Interesting that the article by the Lifeboats refers to the MOB1 as a PLB. I guess it is a form of personal location beacon, but PLB typically refers to a small EPIRB, whereas the MOB1 is a AIS/DSC beacon. I wonder if he got the boat's attention with the VHF, and then they used his location on the AIS to actually find him?
 
Ed Sned said:
His kit is shown in an image on FB - an ocean signal MOB1 and a small VHF. I don't doubt that the VHF was probably what got the attention. Interesting that the article by the Lifeboats refers to the MOB1 as a PLB. I guess it is a form of personal location beacon, but PLB typically refers to a small EPIRB, whereas the MOB1 is a AIS/DSC beacon. I wonder if he got the boat's attention with the VHF, and then they used his location on the AIS to actually find him?
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The sea looks pretty flat and they were there very fast, so possible they just went straight towards the boat with the flappy sails and he was fairly obvious nearby.

Good spot on the MOB1.
 
Ed Sned said:
His kit is shown in an image on FB - an ocean signal MOB1 and a small VHF.
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Yep, that would do it, not much time delay as with a PLB either. Functionality for the UK is "AIS + DSC Individual Distress Relay call only", so decently equipped vessels should have an MOB icon on the plotter to steer for.

I'd be curious to hear from the rescuing yacht how it appeared on their plotter.
 
That was a great result for the yachtsman and the RNLI.

I am however appalled by the English used by the author, in that report. it reads as though a child has written it. Twice they used "from" instead of "of" and two sentences are nonsensical.
 
We have the MOB1 in our LJs. Nearby vessels with AIS receive equipped chart plotters will show MOB on their screens. Thread about them here.

G

Thread 'Ocean Safety MOB1'

As we generally sail as a couple, I have developed an extreme fear of MOB situations.
We each have a MOB1 and, in theory, if one of us goes overboard, the other should at least be able to locate.
MOB1s have a self test facility and, sure enough the little green light says " I am working".
However, the radio does not react to the alleged transmission. I know the MMSI numbers in the radio and the MOB1 are correct.
The test was carried out below deck. Is it possible the signal from the MOB1 without its tape antenna deployed was insufficient to reach the masthead?
Ocean Safety advise that...
 
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